Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavensby Andrea Wulf, Robin Sachs (narrator)
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780307989659
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Genre: Natural Science
Publisher: Random House Audio
On June 6, 1761, the world paused to observe a momentous occasion: the first transit of Venus between the earth and the sun in more than a century. Through that observation, astronomers could calculate the size of the solar system—but only if they could compile data from many different points of the globe, all recorded during the short period of the transit. Overcoming incredible odds and political strife, astronomers from Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and the American colonies set up observatories in remote corners of the world, only to have their efforts thwarted by unpredictable weather and warring armies. Fortunately, transits of Venus occur in pairs: eight years later, the scientists would have another opportunity to succeed.
Chasing Venus brings to life the personalities of the eighteenth-century astronomers who embarked upon this complex and essential scientific venture, painting a vivid portrait of the collaborations, the rivalries, and the volatile international politics that hindered them at every turn. In the end, what they accomplished would change our conception of the universe and would forever alter the nature of scientific research.
Before starting this book, I’d read two of Wulf’s books. The first was about Alexander von Humboldt, and natural history, so I was inclined going in to love it. The second one was about the birth of Romanticism; a subject I’m less interested in, but it included von Humboldt and Goethe, so again, I was inclined to really enjoy it.
Chasing Venus was the acid test of Wulf’s writing for me, because space bores me silly. Yes, the stars are pretty to look at, and I urge everyone to find access to some dark corner of the world in which to view the Milky Way, because … wow. And the Auroras are definite bucket list musts. But beyond that, the planets, constellations, black holes, etc … eh, don’t care.
I hadn’t even intended to read this one, but it showed up as available in audio at one of my libraries and I gave in to curiosity – could Wulf make the race to watch the transit of Venus in the 1700’s interesting to someone like me?
Turns out she can … sort of. Did I care about will they/won’t they question of success at getting the measurements? No, not really. But Wulf totally sucked me in to the drama and adventures of those men who rushed to the far corners of the globe (‘rush’ being a highly relative term in the 1700’s) in the often vain hope of seeing the transit of Venus, and not dying in the process from disease, war, or boredom.
I listed to this on audio and I thought the narrator did a terrific job, BUT, my American tin-ear for accents made some of the names really difficult to comprehend, coming from an British accented narrator and many of the names being French. This got better as the book progressed, but I do think I’d have probably gotten a bit more out of this book had I read the print version.