George Johnson brings to life Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who found the key
to the vastness of the universe--in the form of a "yardstick" suitable
for measuring it. Unknown in our day, Leavitt was no more recognized in
her own: despite her enormous achievement, she was employed by the
Harvard Observatory as a mere number-cruncher, at a wage not dissimilar
from that of workers in the nearby textile mills. Miss Leavitt's Stars
uncovers her neglected history.