The Delaware Astronomical Society Book Club meets monthly on the last Thursday of the Month via ZOOM. Guests are welcome. ZOOM Links are emailed in advance of the meeting. To join or attend a meeting, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Next Up

The American Astronomical Society 125th

2024

Trudy E Bell

Thursday, January 25, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Ormsby Macknight Mitchel, Astronomer and
General: A Biographical Narrative (1887)
By Frederick Augustus Mitchel

Referred to as Old Stars, Ormsby Macknight Mitchel (1809-1862) was a Civil War General, Surveyor, and Astronomer who published the Sidereal Messenger, first astronomy magazine in the United States.

Philip S. Shoemaker PhD, author of the thesis, Ormsby Macknight Mitchel and Astronomy in Antebellum America, will be joining us.

Trudy E. Bell, contributing editor for Sky & Telescope and a member of the editorial advisory board for Springer’s Historical & Cultural Astronomy book series, will also be joining us.

Available in free PDF format

DAS Member, Brad Wolvin, will lead the meeting

Thursday, February 29, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

How William Huggins Shaped Astrophysics
by Barbara J. Becker

Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of
English astronomer William Huggins (1824–1910),
best known for his pioneering work in
astronomical spectroscopy
together with his wife, Margaret

50 Monuments in 50 Voices:
Monument to William and Margaret Huggins
by Barbara Becker PhD

Jim Barkley will lead the meeting.

 Dr Barbara J. Becker will join us

Thursday, March 28, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Amazing Stories - ARMAGEDDON -2419 A.D. 
by Philip Francis Nowlan

We will be discussing Armageddon - 2419 A.D, the novella, which introduces the character, Buck Rogers, in the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories.

Nowlan's granddaughter, Diane McDevitt, will be joining us to discuss her grandfather's life, work, and his iconic character.

Matt Bobrowsky and Marie Breton Bobrowsky, DAS Members, will lead the discussion.

Local artist, Matthew Borgen, hopes to attend the meeting.

The novella is available to borrow at archive.org

Peter Bellerby

Thursday, April 25, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The Globemakers: The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft
by Peter Bellerby

The author, Peter Bellerby, will be joining us for our discussion.

DAS Member, Gregory McNiff, will lead the meeting

Stefan Hughes

Nico Carver

Thursday, May 30, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Catchers of the Light
by Stefan Hughes

The ‘Catchers of the Light’ tells the true stories of the men and women who first photographed the heavens. Their lives are ones full of adventure, adversity and triumph - which would test the abilities of even the best author or screenwriter to recreate as a work of fiction. Sadly their names are largely unknown and all but forgotten - confined now to the closed pages of history. Through the book you are about to read, they come alive once again.

Stefan Hughes will join us for our discussion

Nico Carver, DAS member and dedicated deep-sky astrophotographer (see his popular YouTube channel) will lead our discussion.

Members of the Delaware Photographic Society will join us for our discussion.

The Book is available at the author's web site.

Thursday, June 27, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The Day We Found the Universe
by Marcia Bartusiak

Professor Marcia Bartusiak will join us as we mark the 100th anniversary of Hubble's discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy.

David Ives Brown, DAS Book Club member and Rittenhouse Astronomical Society Board Member, will lead our discussion.

Available via the Delaware Libraries in book and e-audiobook formats.

Thursday, July 25, 2024
7  PM
Via ZOOM

Nathaniel Bowditch and the Power of Numbers:
How a Nineteenth-Century Man of Business, Science,
and the Sea Changed American Life
by Tamara Plakins Thornton

Professor Tamara Plakins Thornton will join us

Professor Stefan Hughes will lead the discussion

The ebook is available via the Delaware Libraries.

Thursday, August 29, 2024
7  PM
Via ZOOM

Accidental Astronomy:
How Random Discoveries Shape the Science of Space
by Chris Lintott

Professor Lintott, Gresham College's 39th Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Astrophysics in Oxford University,  will join us for our discussion.

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Big Listen--the  Opposition of Mars in 1924 and the efforts made by Todd and Jenkins to communicate with Mars.

The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World

by Sarah Stewart Johnson

Professor Johnson will join us for our discussion.

Jim Kerschen PhD, DAS Board Member and Education and Outreach Chair, will lead the meeting.

Rosyln Frank

Chief Dennis J. Coker

Thursday, October 24, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM
 

The Skylore of An Indigenous People: The Case of the Performance Art and Traditional Beliefs of the Lenape Delaware (Algonquian) of the Northeastern Woodlands

by Professor Emeritus Roslyn Frank 

Professor Roslyn Frank will join our discussion.

Chief Dennis J. Coker and Citizens of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware
will join us for our discussion.

DAS Member, Sheila Vincent, will lead the meeting. 

David Devorkin PhD

Kevin B. Marvel PhD

Thursday, November 21, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is celebrating its 125th anniversary. To honor the occasion, we will discuss the history of the AAS.

David Devorkin PhD, Emeritus Senior Curator, History of Astronomy and Space Sciences, at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum,  will join us to discuss the early history of the AAS,

Kevin. B. Marvel PhD, Executive Officer for the American Astronomical Society, will join us to discuss the recent history of the AAS.

DAS and AAA-NY member, Greg McNiff, will lead our meeting.

Members of the AAS and AAA-NY are invited to attend.

 Ian Stewart

Karla Bloehm

Thursday, December 19, 2024
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
by Jennifer Ackerman

 Ian Stewart, ornithologist with the
Delaware Nature Society (DNS), will join us to discuss the Ackerman book and Owls in Delaware.

Karla Bloehm, the Executive Director of the International Owl Center (IOC), will also join us to discuss the Ackerman book and her work at the IOC.

DAS member, Diana Metzger, will discuss her trips to the International Owl Center.

Members of the DNS and IOC and their guests are invited to join  us for our discussion.

DAS member and DNS Educator, Sheila Vincent, will lead the meeting.

Hedwig's Theme by John Williams

2025

Thursday, January 30, 2025

7 PM Eastern Time

Via Zoom

Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond: The Life of Astronomer Vera Rubin

by

Ashley J. Yeager

Ashley Yeager will join us for our discussion about Vera Rubin and help us celebrate the long awaited first light at the Vera Rubin Observatory expected in 2025.

The meeting will be led by DAS Members, Beatrice Schwarz and Andy Finkel.

Thursday, February 27, 2025
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Keep Watching the Skies!
The Story of Operation Moonwatch
& The Dawn Of The Space Age
by W. Patrick McCray PhD

UCSB History of Technology and Science Professor Professor McCray will join us for our discussion.

David Ives Brown, DAS Book Club and Rittenhouse Society member, will discuss his Moonwatch telescope-made by the US Navy for the Smithsonian's program.

The Moonwatch Program was the catalyst for the founding of the Delaware Astronomical Society.

The meeting will be led by Dave Groski, DAS At Large Board Member and Chairman of the Board of the MT Cuba Observatory.

Sunday, March 30, 2025
3 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Starborn
How the Stars Made Us (and Who We Would Be Without Them)
by Roberto Trotta

Dr. Robert Trotta will join us for our meeting.

Greg McNiff, DAS and AAS member, will lead our discussion.

Members of the Amateur Astronomers of New York will will be joining us for our discussion.

Thursday, April 24, 2025
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science
by Seb Falk

Winner of the American Astronomical Society's
Donald E. Osterbrock Book Award for 2025

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Thursday, June 26, 2025

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
A Glance At Its History And Work
by E. Walter Maunder

Celebration of the 350th anniversary of the
founding of Greenwich Observatory

Available at Archive.org

Thursday, July 31, 2025
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

Attention Is Discovery
The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt

by Anna Von Mertens

A portrait of trailblazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and an illustrated exploration of the power of attention in scientific observation, artistic creation, and the making of meaning.

Anna Van Mertens will be joining us for our discussion.

Thursday, August 28, 2025
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission
by Jim Bell

DAS Member, Dave Hunter, will lead the meeting.

Date subject to change.

Thursday, December 18, 2025
7 PM ET
Via ZOOM

The Newton Cipher
by Steve Ruskin

Steve Ruskin will join us for our discussion.

____________________

Chasing the Stars: How the Astronomers of Observatory Hill Transformed Our Understanding of the Universe
by James Lattis and Kelly Tyrrell

____________________

The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness
in an Age of Artificial Light
by Paul Bogard

____________________

Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled On by Hawking Became Loved
by Marcia Bartusiak

____________________

2023

Sir Christoher Wren

Valerie Shrimplin
 

Thursday, January 26, 2023
2PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

Celebrate Wren | 300

Sir Christopher Wren: Architect-Astronomer
by Valerie Shrimplin

An essay from the book
Imagining Other Worlds: Explorations in Astronomy and Culture
Edited by Nicholas Campion & Chris Impey
Essays were originally gathered at the conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena at London’s Gresham College in 2015

Professor Shrimplin shall be joining our discussion from London.
Dr Valerie Shrimplin is an Art Historian, Researcher and Author, who was awarded her PhD for her research entitled 'Sun Symbolism and Cosmology in Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment'.' She has subsequently produced a number of academic publications focusing on the influence of astronomy and cosmology on art and architecture, particularly of the Byzantine, medieval and Renaissance periods.

Professor Sarah Hall


Lukas Boser


David Aragai


Jean Bowe Strickland

Dr. Bethany Cobb Kung

Thursday, February 23, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

What is a Philom? A Philom is the compiler of astronomical data

Almanacs and Philoms in 18th century Wilmington

Discussion of the first Delaware almanac, The Wilmington Almanack for 1762 by Thomas Fox, which was printed by Delaware's first printer and publisher, James Adams. Thomas Fox is the pseudonym of John Tobler, a Swiss emigre to the Carolinas who founded and served as the Astronomer Philomath of the Appenzeller Kalender, an almanac which is in its 302nd year of publication. The 1762 almanac is a historic document of interest to Delawareans and to the DAS and will continue to be an ongoing focus for the DAS Library in its mission to advance scientific knowledge.
 We are rich in a panel of guests and hope that DAS Members will join our discussion about Tobler or submit questions to the DAS Librarian in advance of the meeting.

• David Aragai MA, archivist and historian, Switzerland
• Professor Lukas Boser PhD, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
• Professor Sarah Hall PhD, Berea College
• Amanda Zimmerman, Rare Book Librarian from the Library of Congress
• Jean Bowe Strickland, Tobler descendant and author of Five Fortune Tellers of New Windsor. Tobler, Zubly, Meyer, Sturzenegger, and Nail, Swiss Pioneer Families of South Carolina.
• Dr. Bethany Cobb Kung, Associate Professor in Honors and Physics at the George Washington University and current Philom of the Old Farmer's Almanac founded in 1792.

The Library of Congress owns one of the few copies of the 1762 Wilmington Almanack and, Amanda Zimmerman, Rare Book librarian at the Library of Congress, has made the attached PDF copy available to members of the Delaware Astronomical Society to  facilitate our meeting and promote Tobler scholarship. Because the 18th century text can be challenging, the DAS Librarian has created a transcription of the text.
A transcription, in spreadsheet format, of the February almanac table has also been transcribed; Robert Stack is modelling the data using Stellarium software to check accuracy. We will discuss the Pennsylvania and Columbia Almanacs, if time permits.

The Wilmington Almanack 1762 

Pennsylvania Town and Country-Man's Almanack 1762

The Columbian Almanac
1793

Thursday, March 30, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM


The Quiet Zone: Unraveling the Mystery of a Town Suspended in Silence
by Stephen Kurczy

The author, Stephen Kurczy, will be joining us for our discussion.


DAS Member, Jim Barkley, will lead the meeting

Professor Hal Poe

Professor John Jebb


Glen Moyer
 

Thursday, April 27, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

Mellonta Tauta
by Edgar Allan Poe

Professor Hal Poe will be joining our discussion. Dr. Poe has written extensively about Poe and the universe, served on the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation and Museum of Richmond, and yes, is a relative of the legendary Edgar Allan Poe.

University of Delaware Professor John Jebb will also be joining our discussion.

Story recommended by DAS Member, James Kauer, who hopes to join our discussion.

Thursday, May 25, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

With Stars in Their Eyes: The Extraordinary Lives and
Enduring Genius of Aden and Marjorie Meinel
by Alec M. Pridgeon and James B. Breckinridge

The authors, Alec M. Pridgeon and Donald E. Osborn, will be joining us for our discussion. Cynthia Osborn will also join us and share her experience working with the Meinels.

DAS Member, Robert Stack, will lead the meeting.

This book is available in EBook Format to
members of the Delaware Libraries
 

Thursday, June 29, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

The End of Astronauts
Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration
by Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees

Donald Goldsmith will be joining us for our discussion.

DAS and CCAS member, Chris Trunk, will lead the meeting

Listen to Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees
discuss their book on
The Planetary Society's Planetary Radio.

Thursday, July 27, 2023
(note date change)
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

July is for Sci Fi !

Dragon's Egg
by Robert L. Forward
 

DAS Member, Marie Breton, will lead the meeting

This book is available in eAudiobook Format to
members of the Delaware Libraries and available online at archive.org

Dave Groski

Thursday, August 31, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

We will discuss a landmark article, the first of a series of articles
about the Springfield Telescope Makers, which appeared in the
November, 1925 issue of Scientific American:

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God -
How a Group of Enthusiasts Learned to Make Telescopes
and Became Amateur Astronomers (1925)
by Albert C. Ingalls
(link to article)

The Springfield Telescope Makers (STM) are an amateur astronomer and telescope maker's group headquartered at their Stellafane Clubhouse and observatory on Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont; they were founded by Russell W. Porter in 1923 and, so, are celebrating their centenary from August 17-20, 2023.

The DAS salutes the Springfield Telescope Makers and their mission to stimulate interest in astronomy and allied sciences by preserving and fostering the skill of amateur telescope making.

Dave Groski, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory, will lead the meeting.

Members of the STM are invited to join the DAS Book Club
for our August Book Club meeting.

Thursday, September 28, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

Adventures of an Eclipse Chaser 
by Roderick J Hill

For 20 years Rod and Monica Hill have been chasing
eclipses all around the world. They will be joining us
for our discussion.

DAS Board Member, Jim Kerschen, will lead the meeting

Available in Ebook Kindle format via Amazon.com

The Astronomer
by Jan Vermeer

Thursday, November 2, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

Eye of the Beholder:
Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek,
and the Reinvention of Seeing
by Laura J. Snyder

Commemorate the tercentenary of the death of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) and the landmark 2023 exhibition of Jan Vermeer's work at the Rijksmuseum

Vermeer painted the legendary, The Astronomer. "Portrayals of scientists were a favourite topic in 17th-century Dutch painting and Vermeer's oeuvre includes both this astronomer and the slightly later The Geographer. Both are believed to portray the same man, possibly Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. A 2017 study indicated that the canvas for the two works came from the same bolt of material, confirming their close relationship."

DAS Member, Robert Stack, will lead the meeting

Available to members of the Delaware Libraries in eBook and eAudiobook format.

Robert Westman

Sarah Horowitz


 

November 30, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

The esteemed Harvard professor and historian of astronomy,
Professor Owen Gingerich died on May 28th.




To honor his life and work, the Delaware Astronomical Society Book Club's November read is

The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus
  by Owen Gingerich

  UC San Diego Emeritus Professor, Historian of Science, Robert Westman,
a renowned Copernicus scholar who collaborated
with Professor Gingerich, will join us.

Sarah Horowitz, Curator of Rare Books & Manuscripts
at Haverford College Libraries, will also join us
to discuss the Haverford College copy of De revolutionibus.

DAS member, Deepak Bhimalli, will lead the meeting.

The book is available to borrow via the
Delaware Libraries  and the Chester County Library System. The book may be available at archive.org

Thursday, December 14, 2023
7  PM (ET)
Via ZOOM

December Issue
Astronomy Magazine

Alison Klesman, Senior Editor of Astronomy Magazine, will be joining us for our discussion. This is the 50th year of the magazine, founded in 1973 by  the astronomy and journalism student, Stephen A. Walther.

50th anniversary: The origins of Astronomy magazine

DAS Board member, Bob Trebilcock, will lead the meeting

The magazine is available at the Mt Cuba Observatory Library.

first issue Aug 1973

50th anniversary Aug 2023

2022

Thursday, January 27, 2022
5PM EST
and
7PM EST
ZOOM

The Human Cosmos: Civilization and the Stars
by Jo Marchant

Kathy Koons will lead the meeting

Jo Marchant will be joining us from the United Kingdom

Please note: To accommodate both Jo Marchant (GMT time zone) and book club members schedules there are two meetings: a 5PM discussion with the author, and a 7PM regular book discussion (sorry, Jo Marchant cannot attend the 7PM meeting).

Thursday, February 24, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

How The Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival
by David Kaiser

Beth Trebilcock will lead the meeting

Dave Kaiser will be joining us

Donovan Moore

Dr Cecilia Gaposchkin
 

Thursday,  March 31, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

What Stars Are Made Of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
by Donovan Moore

Jim Kerschen will lead the meeting

Donovan Moore will join us and we will also be
joined by Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin’s granddaughter, Dr Cecilia Gaposchkin

Thursday,  April 28, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

The Apollo Murders
By Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut

To commemorate  the 50th anniversary of Apollo Missions 16 and 17

Matt Bobrowsky will lead the meeting

Thursday,  May 26, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

Seeing in the Dark: How Amateur Astronomers Are Discovering the Wonder
by Timothy Ferris

Professor Ferris will be joining us

Robert Stack will lead the meeting

John Brashear

Bart Fried

Thursday,  June 30, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

Autobiography of John Brashear

by John Brashear

Bart Fried of the Antique Telescope Society will lead
the meeting. He is writing a biography of John Brashear
and is the leading expert in Brashear’s life and work.

Thursday, July 28 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM
 

A Memory Called Empire
by Arkady Martine

A 2020 winner of the sci-fi Hugo award

(read a review of the book)

(Arkady Martine Interview - YouTube)


Marie Breton will lead the meeting

Lynn King
as Caroline

Steve Ruskin

Titus Grenyer
 

Thursday,  August 25, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM
 

Discoverers of the Universe, William and Caroline Herschel
by Michael Hoskin

William Herschel  biography to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his death

Lynn King, Caroline Herschel reenactor and DAS and Rittenhouse Astronomical Society member, will lead the meeting. Steve Ruskin (who joined us last year when we discussed his book America's First Great Eclipse) will also be joining us. Titus Grenyer, a young Australian organist and conductor, has also agreed to join us to discuss Herschel as a musician and play a bit of Herschel's music.

Thursday,  September 29, 2022
2PM EST
via ZOOM

About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks
by David Rooney

David Rooney will be joining us via ZOOM from Greenwich, England
 
 
Jim Barkley will lead the meeting

Saturday,  October 1, 2022
7PM
Via ZOOM

Moon! Earth's Best Friend

by

Stacy MacAnulty

Thursday,  October 27, 2022
7PM
Via ZOOM

Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo
by Nicholas de Monchaux

Nicholas de Monchaux is from MIT, where he serves as the head of the Architecture Department.

Chris Trunk of the Chester County Astronomical Society will lead the meeting.

Chris writes---

The book was published in 2011 and is an excellent read. The book covers a wide range of topics that influenced the creation of the Spacesuit. The included photos are very helpful and really bring the story to life. The book's author did an excellent job researching the subject, and he includes links to all the sources used.

The spacesuits that were manufactured (and are still being manufactured) are made by a Delaware corporation; ILC Dover. The seamstresses that made the Apollo moon spacesuits came from our region, SE PA and Delaware and worked for Playtex prior to being chosen to join the team that made the spacesuits.

Wednesday,  November 2, 2022
7:15 PM
Via ZOOM

A conversation with Nicholas de Monchaux
author of
Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo

Nicholas could not make our regular meeting so he will be joining us via ZOOM from MIT in Cambridge where he serves as the head of the Architecture Department.

  Friday, November 11, 2022
7 PM - 7:30 PM
Via ZOOM

Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing
by Dean Robbins

The Delaware Astronomical Society Library cordially invites Delaware Children and their families to attend a Free ZOOM reading event to celebrate the upcoming NASA Artemis Mission to the Moon

  With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

A DAS Children's Librarian will read the book aloud.

Children will be invited to submit paintings and drawings of the Moon to the DAS for posting to an online gallery.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register and receive the ZOOM link

Professor Mark Walker PhD

Margrethe Bohr and Niels Bohr

Thursday, November 17, 2022
7PM EST
Via ZOOM

Copenhagen
a play by Michael Frayn

To mark the 100th anniversary of Niels Bohr's Nobel Prize Award.

Professor Mark Walker PhD, Chair of the History Department at Union College, will join our discussion.

Professor Walker, "researches and publishes on twentieth-century science, including in particular science and technology under National Socialism, and comparisons of science and technology in different political, cultural, and ideological contexts. He teaches modern European history, with special emphasis on modern German history and the history of ideas, the history of science and technology, with special emphasis on nuclear history, human evolution, and the interaction of science and technology with politics and ideology, and “Big History,” from the origin of the Universe to the present."

Thursday,  December 15, 2022
7PM EST
via ZOOM

Public Astronomy Los Angeles Style
by David DeVorkin and E.C. Krupp

2021

January
Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Quantum Physics Is Different
by Philip Ball

February
Thomas Harriot: A Life in Science
by Robyn Arianrhod

(Robyn Arianrhod joined the meeting via Zoom  to discuss her book)

March
America's First Great Eclipse: How Scientists, Tourists, and the Rocky Mountain Eclipse of 1878 Changed Astronomy 
by Steve Ruskin

(Steve Ruskin joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss his book)

April
Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
by Avi Loeb

(Avi Loeb joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss his book)

June
The Sun's Heartbeat
By  Bob Berman

July
The Wright Brothers
by David McCullough

(Nick Engler, Director of the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co., joined us to discuss everything Wright Brothers including building and flying replicas of Wright Flyer airplanes)

August
The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe
by Thomas Levenson

(Thomas Levenson joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss his book)

October
Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe
by George Johnson

(George Johnson joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss his book)

December
The Science of Shakespeare
by Brian Falk

(Brian Falk joined the meeting via Zoom to discuss his book)

2020

January
Brother Astronomer
by Br. Guy Cosmolagno

(Br. Guy Cosmolagno joined the meeting over Skype to discuss his book)

March
Alvan Clark & Sons: Artists in Optics
by D.J. Warner

October
Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
by Natalie Starkey

(Natalie Starkey answered questions about her book over YouTube)

2019

June
The Stargazer’s Sister, a novel
(about Caroline Herschel)
by Carrie Brown

(Carrie Brown joined by Skype and Caroline Herschel, aka historian/reenactor Lynn King, was at the meeting)

July
Moon Rush: The New Space Race
by Leonard David

(Leonard David joined the meeting over Skype to discuss his book)

2018

2017

If you have questions, want to join the book club,
or want a guest ZOOM pass to any of the meetings,
please email Mary Webb at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.