Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy

by Emily M. Levesque

10 hours and 30 minutes

When it comes to the heroes of astronomy, we tend to think of lone men persevering in the face of daunting odds. Think of the titans of astronomy and you’re likely to think of names like Edwin Hubble, Albert Einstein, and Carl Sagan. And while these individuals revolutionized our understanding of the visible and invisible universe, they, too, were standing on the shoulders of other scientists and engineers without whom none of their groundbreaking ideas would have been possible.

Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy takes you around the world and across time in search of the unsung heroes who, in many ways, are just as important to the story of astronomy as Hubble, Einstein, and Sagan. Whether they stood on the shoulders of giants or themselves offered shoulders for giants to stand on, the heroes of astronomy you’ll meet in these 24 lessons are a collective of the brightest and most daring minds in science.

Other influential astronomers you’ll meet include Annie Jump Cannon, who revolutionized the way astronomers classified the stars; Grote Reber, who designed what we recognize today as radio telescopes; Vera Rubin, who identified the first observational evidence of dark matter; and so many others. From groundbreaking new theories to serendipitous observations, from engineering the world’s largest telescopes to designing bold new ways to detect gravitational waves, you’ll witness the evolution of astronomical knowledge in small steps and incredible leaps.

This is an incomparable window into why we’ve always found the stars so fascinating. And why we always will.

Genres: Science, Audiobook, Nonfiction, History, Astronomy

11 pages, Audible Audio

Published February 26, 2021

About the author

Dr. Emily Levesque is an astronomy professor at the University of Washington and studies the evolution of dying stars. She has observed for upwards of 50 nights on many of the world’s largest optical telescopes, visited more than a dozen leading observatories, and used the Hubble Space Telescope for her research.

She received her S.B. in physics from MIT and her PhD in astronomy from the University of Hawaii. In 2014 she was awarded the Annie Jump Cannon Prize by the American Astronomical Society. She is a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics and a 2019 Cottrell Scholar.

Reviews

[Yaaresse · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so good. A treat for both space and history geeks.

I love the professor's enthusiasm for her topic. Dr. Levesque is a first-rate story-teller, and so is able to tie the lectures together into a coherent and interesting history of space exploration and the underlying research. This is the kind of lecturer who can ignite a fire for the sciences under a student.

Also, I appreciate that she shines a light on the many women whose contributions have been overlooked far too long.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronomy is a subject I find endlessly fascinating despite the fact that much of the related science tends to go over my head. (Let's just say that physics and I just weren't meant to be...) Levesque's lecture series covers a lot of interesting ground and was easy enough to follow for the most part despite my aforementioned lack of scientific background knowledge.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of modern astronomy (especially US focused, 20th century). Reasonably well presented, although the presenter seems VERY EXCITED about everything constantly, so there's less range, but less of an issue if you listen to the lectures separately vs. back to back for 6 hours. Everything is very clearly presented and doesn't require any prerequisite knowledge, but unfortunately also doesn't really go beyond relatively basic information (a 101 college class level), which is admittedly what this is intended to be -- there were only a few supporting details I hadn't seen elsewhere. Still, this is an excellent introduction and overview for someone with no knowledge of the field but who is interested in astronomy.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good audio course focusing on astronomy rather than cosmology or physics. I appreciated the detail especially about telescopes. I've always been fascinated by them. The professor seemed to emphasize women's contributions to astronomy which I know have been considerable. She does this without beating us over the head about it except in one place.

There was one lecture that focused on a gay person who applied for a job in astronomy and didn't get it. The professor became shrill, and no science was covered in that lecture.

Aside from that, the rest of the lectures were great. I'll probably listen to this audio course again.

[Gavin Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are an astronomy nut like me, these lectures will be a pleasant enough time killer (I listened while driving to work), but not much more. Nothing new in these lectures. I guess I should have figured that out from the title. Nothing wrong with the lectures or lecturer - all really well presented but if you are into cosmology, you probably already know everything presented in these lectures. My Bad ;)

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good review of the history of developments in astronomy and astrophysics. My only complaint is that it’s almost all narrative. Too few pictures and diagrams. Addition of graphics would have improved the course a lot. The other problem is that just watching the instructor talk doesn’t add value. Using her voice over graphics or equations would have been much more useful than just watching her talk. As a matter of personal preference, watching her talk was a distraction.

[Mathew Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 11hr audio book. Great short history lesson on Astronomy and its heroes and pioneers. The author was well informative and I enjoyed listening to her speak. There are a few points in the audio book that I wish that I was watching the video for better understanding but overall I still loved the lesson.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4-5 stars. this book was a bit different and more enlightening than I had expected. It introduces some challenging concepts while fully addressing some old ill-learned concepts. The pdf is especially helpful and has good quizzes too! Nicely highlights some female heroes - some who didn't get as much credit at the time.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great information about people we should all know about, and how they contributed to these great discoveries.

[michelle]

I only reached half way but I just couldn’t get into it

[Deedee · Rating 3 out of 5]

College course lectures.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personality-based history of astronomy and, by default, physics.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating course. I should probably listen to it a few more times to get more out of it, but I definitely learned a lot about astronomy.