Donovan Moore has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Boston Globe and Rolling Stone, and has worked as a television reporter and producer.
The first full-length biography, a beautifully written and
well-researched study. Handling the science with a light but deft
touch, Moore primarily focuses on this astronomer’s personal life,
the office politics, and the struggles one woman of science faced
in the first half of the 20th century.
*Wall Street Journal*
Payne-Gaposchkin pounded on astronomy’s glass ceiling, and she was
the first to put major cracks in it. But in many places, the
ceiling was impervious to her effort and intellect. She deserves
more praise for her accomplishments than she has
received…Fortunately, Moore’s new biography of this brilliant
scientist is a must-read.
*Physics Today*
Male astronomers often achieve a popular fame that eluded one of
the field’s most distinguished women: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
That should be remedied by Donovan Moore’s engaging and accessible
biography. It skillfully opens up Payne’s achievements and
adventures by setting them in the global village of astronomy…Moore
illuminates Payne’s development into a remarkable scientist.
*Nature*
Moore takes readers on a meticulously researched tour of
Payne-Gaposchkin’s remarkable life, drawn from family interviews,
contemporary accounts and Payne-Gaposchkin’s own writings. It’s a
riveting tale of a woman who knocked down every wall put before her
to get the answers she desired about the cosmos.
*Science News*
Tells the story of a brilliant and altogether remarkable astronomer
who is not nearly as famous as she should be. This clear and
articulate book may go some way to rectify that situation…We owe a
great deal to pioneers such as Cecilia Payne-Gaposhkin, who should
be better known and whose achievements should be much more widely
celebrated.
*Nature Astronomy*
A rich and illuminating biography of a scientist whose
contributions have been underappreciated for too long.
*New Scientist*
Payne comes across as a fascinating woman, navigating the various
gender-based obstacles in her way to build a life and career in a
new subject (astrophysics) in a new country…An entertaining,
engaging, and informative read.
*BBC Sky at Night*
Welcome not just because it puts the record straight for a wider
audience but also because it is the proverbial good read, setting
Payne’s achievements in the context of her times.
*Literary Review*
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is one of the most important scientists
that you’ve never heard of…Moore pays tribute to a tenacious
scientist whose many firsts helped break new ground—and whose
spirit of discovery changed our understanding of the universe.
*A Mighty Girl*
Illuminates the amazing life and work of astronomer Cecilia
Payne-Gaposchkin…Moore captures a fascinating period of change in
science, when physics was in flux and astrophysics was brand-new,
and in the world as a whole, as new opportunities opened up for
women. This is a fascinating look at a pioneer in science.
*Publishers Weekly*
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin’s success was not achieved by chance. She
triumphed by facing down every obstacle, by never giving up, by
being, as she says, ‘doggedly persistent.’ Donovan Moore brings
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin to the front of history in a way that
inspires us, educates us, and makes us want to be better. Champions
adapt, and Cecilia was a champion.
*Billie Jean King, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and
winner of the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match*
A fine biography of perhaps the greatest astronomer of the past
century that no one has heard of…Readers will gnash their teeth as
Moore recounts the discrimination she endured…An outstanding life
of an impressive scientist.
*Kirkus Reviews (starred review)*
Moore charts Payne-Gaposchkin’s scientific life from grade school
standout to world-class astronomer.
*Science*
An engaging, enlightening biography about a key figure in
astrophysics in the 20th century.
*Space Review*
What Stars Are Made Of celebrates the scientist responsible for
discovering the composition of stars. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
dedicated her life to the pursuit of science when very few women
were given the chance. Throughout her long career, she never
stopped adapting her methods and embracing new ideas, fueled by a
passion to understand the universe and our place in it.
*Scott Kelly, retired US Navy Captain, former NASA astronaut, and
author of Endurance*
Through vivid and eloquent prose, this book applauds the great
astronomer who discovered what stars themselves are made of. Moore
brings the inspirational story of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin to
center stage, where it belongs.
*Jo Dunkley, author of Our Universe: An Astronomer’s
Guide*
I devoured this book in a single weekend. Donovan Moore artfully
portrays the lack of recognition for Payne-Gaposchkin’s
paradigm-changing discoveries and embarks, as resolutely as Cecilia
herself, to set the record straight.
*Jessie Christiansen, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute*
What Stars Are Made Of provides both an accessible introduction to
and an expansive context for the life and work of Cecilia
Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most brilliant astrophysicists of the
twentieth century. The sharing of stories like Payne-Gaposchkin’s
will reshape the future of science so that all aspiring scientists
may reach their full potential as we continue to explore the
universe.
*Emily Rice, City University of New York and the American Museum of
Natural History*
An astronomy icon is finally brought to life in this captivating
and inspiring must-read. Donovan Moore digs deep to reveal a
scientist far ahead of her time.
*Sara Seager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology*
Recounts the remarkable story of this unusually gifted
scientist.
*Book Post*
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was one of the world’s first
astrochemists. This book tells of her striking scientific insights,
her frustrations as a female scientist and how she rose to become
the first female professor at Harvard University…Very readable and
well organized, giving remarkable insights into its paradoxical
subject who was both shy but determined…A worthy tribute to a truly
remarkable woman.
*Chemistry World*
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is one of the most important scientists
that you've never heard of…In this extensively researched
biography, Donovan Moore pays tribute to a tenacious scientist
whose many firsts helped break new ground—and whose spirit of
discovery changed our understanding of the universe.
*A Mighty Girl*
Extremely well-researched, detailed and engaging, with a perfect
mix of history, anecdotes and scientific explanations, Moore brings
to life the bright light that was Payne-Gaposchkin.
*Physics World*
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