Minding the Heavens

This book is about how scientists discovered that we lived in a galaxy, in fact, a universe full of galaxies. This fascinating story of the discovery of our own and other galaxies is told through the lives of seven astronomers: Thomas Wright, William Herschel, Wilhelm Struve, William Huggins, Jacobus Kapteyn, Harlow Shapley, and Edwin Hubble. From the mid 1700s with Thomas Wright through to the mid 20th century with the more familiar names of Shapley and Hubble, each character brings us nearer to our present understanding of the Universe.