28 May 2012

Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens

From Afternoons, 3:09 pm on 28 May 2012

The Transit of Venus is entwined with our own history. Captain James Cook set sail on the Endeavor in 1768 to observe the transit from Tahiti in June 1769. His expedition was one of many, fanning out across the globe to measure the exact time Venus entered and exited our view of the sun. 'Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens' by Andrea Wulf tells the dynamic stories of these 18th century astronomers. Andrea is an historian and an acclaimed biographer who's written for The Sunday Times and the Wall Street Journal.