Dava Sobel

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Dava Sobel
Dava Sobel 2015.jpg
Sobel in 2015
Born (1947-06-15) June 15, 1947 (age 75) [1]
The Bronx, New York City
Education Bronx High School of Science
Alma mater Binghamton University
Website www.davasobel.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Signature
Dava Sobel book inscription signature.jpg

Dava Sobel (born June 15, 1947) is an American writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her books include Longitude , about English clockmaker John Harrison; Galileo's Daughter , about Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste; and The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars about the Harvard Computers.

Contents

Biography

Sobel was born in The Bronx, New York City. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University. She wrote Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time in 1995. The story was made into a television movie, of the same name by Charles Sturridge and Granada Film in 1999, and was shown in the United States by A&E.

Her book Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. [2]

She holds honorary doctor of letters degrees from the University of Bath and Middlebury College, Vermont, both awarded in 2002. [3]

Sobel made her first foray into teaching at the University of Chicago as the Vare Writer-in-Residence in the winter of 2006. She taught a one-quarter seminar on writing about science.

She served as a judge for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award in 2012. [4]

Sobel is the niece of journalist Ruth Gruber [5] and the cousin of epidemiologist David Michaels.

Dava Sobel in November 2007 Dava Sobel, November 8, 2007.jpg
Dava Sobel in November 2007

Legacy

The asteroid 30935 Davasobel is named after her. [6]

Sobel states she is a chaser of solar eclipses and that "it's the closest thing to witnessing a miracle". As of August 2012 she had seen eight, and planned to see the November 2012 total solar eclipse in Australia. [7]

Publications

External video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on Longitude, June 17, 1997, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Booknotes interview with Sobel on Longitude, January 17, 1999, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on Galileo's Daughter, December 14, 1999, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on Galileo's Daughter, November 19, 2000, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on Letters to Father, December 7, 2001, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on The Planets, November 15, 2005, C-SPAN
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Presentation by Sobel on The Glass Universe, January 19, 2017, C-SPAN

Recognition

She was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2022 "for outstanding writings covering many centuries of key developments in physics and astronomy and the people central to those developments". [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosmos</span> Universe as a complex and orderly system or entity

The cosmos is another name for the Universe. Using the word cosmos implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geocentric model</span> Superseded description of the Universe with Earth at the center

In astronomy, the geocentric model is a superseded description of the Universe with Earth at the center. Under most geocentric models, the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets all orbit Earth. The geocentric model was the predominant description of the cosmos in many European ancient civilizations, such as those of Aristotle in Classical Greece and Ptolemy in Roman Egypt. Ptolemy’s geocentric model was adopted and refined during the Islamic Golden Age, which Muslims believed correlated with the teachings of Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deferent and epicycle</span> Planetary motions in archaic models of the solar system

In the Hipparchian, Ptolemaic, and Copernican systems of astronomy, the epicycle was a geometric model used to explain the variations in speed and direction of the apparent motion of the Moon, Sun, and planets. In particular it explained the apparent retrograde motion of the five planets known at the time. Secondarily, it also explained changes in the apparent distances of the planets from the Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heliocentrism</span> Sun-centered astronomical model

Heliocentrism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center. The notion that the Earth revolves around the Sun had been proposed as early as the third century BC by Aristarchus of Samos, who had been influenced by a concept presented by Philolaus of Croton. In the 5th century BC the Greek Philosophers Philolaus and Hicetas had the thought on different occasions that our Earth was spherical and revolving around a "mystical" central fire, and that this fire regulated the universe. In medieval Europe, however, Aristarchus' heliocentrism attracted little attention—possibly because of the loss of scientific works of the Hellenistic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolaus Copernicus</span> Polish mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. In all likelihood, Copernicus developed his model independently of Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Celeste</span> Daughter of Galileo Galilei and Marina Gamba

Sister Maria Celeste was an Italian nun. She was the daughter of the scientist Galileo Galilei and Marina Gamba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celatone</span> Navigational aid reliant on tracking Jupiters moons in the sky

The celatone was a device invented by Galileo Galilei to observe Jupiter's moons with the purpose of finding longitude on Earth. It took the form of a piece of headgear with a telescope taking the place of an eyehole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copernican Revolution</span> 16th to 17th century intellectual revolution

The Copernican Revolution was the paradigm shift from the Ptolemaic model of the heavens, which described the cosmos as having Earth stationary at the center of the universe, to the heliocentric model with the Sun at the center of the Solar System. This revolution consisted of two phases; the first being extremely mathematical in nature and the second phase starting in 1610 with the publication of a pamphlet by Galileo. Beginning with the publication of Nicolaus Copernicus’s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, contributions to the “revolution” continued until finally ending with Isaac Newton’s work over a century later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copernican heliocentrism</span> Heliocentric model of solar system by Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernican heliocentrism is the astronomical model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543. This model positioned the Sun at the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular paths, modified by epicycles, and at uniform speeds. The Copernican model displaced the geocentric model of Ptolemy that had prevailed for centuries, which had placed Earth at the center of the Universe.

<i>Galileos Daughter</i> 1999 book by Dava Sobel

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love is a book by Dava Sobel published in 1999. It is based on the surviving letters of Galileo Galilei's daughter, the nun Suor Maria Celeste, and explores the relationship between Galileo and his daughter. It was nominated for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

HMS <i>Charles</i> (1668) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Charles was a 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Deptford Dockyard until his death in March 1668, then completed by Jonas Shish after being launched in the same month. Her name was formally Charles the Second, but she was known simply as Charles, particularly after 1673 when the contemporary Royal Charles was launched.

HMS <i>St Andrew</i> (1670) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS St Andrew was a 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Woolwich Dockyard under the supervision of Christopher Pett until his death in March 1668, completed by Jonas Shish, and launched in 1670. Commanded by George Churchill, she took part in the 1692 victory over the French navy at Barfleur & La Hogue.

HMS <i>Swiftsure</i> (1673) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Swiftsure was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Sir Anthony Deane at Harwich, and launched in 1673. By 1685 she had been reduced to a 66-gun ship.

HMS Torbay was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford Dockyard on 16 December 1693. In 1707, she served as flagship of Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir John Norris and belonged to Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's fleet. She saw action during the unsuccessful Battle of Toulon and was present during the great naval disaster off the Isles of Scilly when Shovell and four of his ships were lost, claiming the lives of nearly 2,000 sailors. Torbay suffered little to no damage and finally managed to reach Portsmouth.

HMS Panther was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 15 March 1703.

<i>Longitude</i> (book) 1995 popular science book

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time is a best-selling book by Dava Sobel about John Harrison, an 18th-century clockmaker who created the first clock (chronometer) sufficiently accurate to be used to determine longitude at sea—an important development in navigation. The book was made into a television series entitled Longitude. In 1998, The Illustrated Longitude was published, supplementing the earlier text with 180 images of characters, events, instruments, maps and publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galileo Galilei</span> Italian physicist and astronomer (1564–1642)

Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name is pronounced. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the "father" of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the center of the Universe</span> Historical concept in cosmology

The center of the Universe is a concept that lacks a coherent definition in modern astronomy; according to standard cosmological theories on the shape of the universe, it has no center.

Jeremi Maria Franciszek Wasiutyński was a Polish-Norwegian astrophysician, philosopher and depth-psychologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical models of the Solar System</span>

The historical models of the Solar System began during prehistoric periods and are updated to this day. The models of the Solar System throughout history were first represented in the early form of cave markings and drawings, calendars and astronomical symbols. Then books and written records became the main source of information that expressed the way the people of the time thought of the Solar System.

References

  1. Sobel, Dava. "Self-Portrait" . Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  2. "The Pulitzer Prizes: Biography or Autobiography" . Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  3. "Dava Sobel Biography". Archived from the original on December 6, 2011.
  4. "Announcing the 2012 PEN Literary Award Recipients". PEN American Center . October 15, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  5. Brawarsky, Sandee (November 22, 2016). "100 Years of Asking Questions". The Jewish Week . New York City. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  6. "30935 Davasobel", Jet Propulsion Laboratory Small-Body Database Browser
  7. "Transcript". Jennifer Byrne Presents: Dava Sobel. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  8. Moore, Patrick (September 2, 2005). "Review: The Planets by Dava Sobel". The Guardian.
  9. Brown, Helen (October 11, 2011). "Review: A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionised the Cosmos by Dava Sobel". The Telegraph.
  10. "The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel". PenguinRandomhouse.com.
  11. "Fellows nominated in 2022". APS Fellows archive. American Physical Society. Retrieved October 19, 2022.