Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

We now know that the universe is mostly dark made up of particles and forces that are undetectable even by our most powerful telescopes The discovery of the possible existence of dark matter and dark energy signaled a Copernicanlike revolution in astronomy not only are we not the center of the universe neither is the stuff of which were made Astronomer Vera Rubin 19282016 played a pivotal role in this discovery By showing that some astronomical objects seem to defy gravitys grip Rubin helped convince the scientific community of the possibility of dark matter In Bright Galaxies Dark Matter and Beyond Ashley Jean Yeager tells the story of Rubins life and work recounting her persistence despite early dismissals of her work and widespread sexism in science

Yeager describes Rubins childhood fascination with stars her education at Vassar and Cornell and her marriage to a fellow scientist At first Rubin wasnt taken seriously she was a rarity a woman in science and her findings seemed almost incredible Still she continued her groundbreaking work driving a scientific revolution She received the National Medal of Science in 1993 and has since been memorialized with a ridge on Mars an asteroid a galaxy and most recently the Vera C Rubin Observatorythe first national observatory named after a woman