Table of Contents
Preface v
Part I Ripping Yarns
1 The Emperor's New Astronomy (1601-1688) Ferdinand Verbiest 3
2 Farm Lad, Spy, Aristocrat, Rascal (1753-1814) Benjamin Thompson Count Rumford 33
3 Pursuing Venus (1677-1770) Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche 61
Part II In the Shadows
4 Mary the Jewess: Lost In Her Own Legend (c.1st-3rd centuries CE) 93
5 Wondrous Transformations (1647-1717) Maria Sibylla Merian 115
6 The Other Darwin (1823-1913) Alfred Russel Wallace 145
7 Escape to obscurity (1878-1968) Lise Meitner 177
Part III Forgotten Firsts
8 Near-Fatal Fiction (c. 1590-1634) Johannes Kepler 211
9 Astronomy on ICE (1864-present) Milutin Milankovic 237
10 The Elusive Quality of Stillness (late 1950s-present) Barry Sterman 263
Notes 290
Bibliography 311
Index 318
Image Credits 326