Jacqueline Mitton

Over the course of a long and productive career, Vera Rubin proved a pioneer in a number of important respects. As an astronomer, she was one of the first to study spiral galaxies, and her work helped convince scientists of the existence of dark matter. As a woman living in America in the mid-20th century, she forged a career in the sciences at a time when few women did so – and even fewer of whom did so while married and raising a family. To have done either was noteworthy. To have done both was truly remarkable.

To tell the story of Rubin’s life properly it is important to incorporate both of these achievements into it. And this is what Jacqueline and Simon Mitton do in their biography of the astronomer. As accomplished astronomers and scientific authors in their own right, they bring to it both their shared expertise in the subject and their experience with explaining it in a way that is accessible to the lay reader. Both skills are on full display in their retelling of Rubin’s contributions and the odds she overcame in order to make them.

Why Rubin became an astronomer, as the Mittons explain, was entirely due to her sister Ruth’s choice of beds. When the Rubin family moved into their new home in Washington D.C. in 1939, Ruth’s choice of the bed next to the wall left Vera with the one by the window. Staring at the night sky sparked Vera’s curiosity, leading her to embark upon her own amateur explorations. Such was her determination that she plowed through the obstacles so common to women interested in science – the discouragement of a high school physics instructor, the challenges of attending college in an era when most women didn’t, the expectation of many of the professionals whom she encountered that she would give up on her career once she got married. Even when Rubin did get married and had four children, this imposed only a pause on her path towards becoming an astronomer.

One of the factors working in Rubin’s favor was the growing support given to astronomy after the Second World War. Thanks to it, she was able to find part-time employment working on federally funded research projects to observe solar activity. Yet Rubin’s interests extended far beyond the Solar System, as her passion was for understanding galaxies themselves. It was when she gained a post at the Carnegie Institution of Washington that Rubin was able at last to focus on her passion for observational astronomy. Over the next several years Rubin studied galactic expansion and the rotation of galaxies, with her calculations on the latter subsequently providing the first evidence of dark matter.

Not only do the Mitton’s description of Rubin’s scientific work help to understand what she accomplished, but the role she played in helping us to better understand the universe. It is the sheer scale of this which probably renders it her greatest achievement, which is not to diminish Rubin’s considerable activism (especially in her later years) for women’s equality in the sciences. Either achievement justifies her biography; taken together they make for a account of an accomplished life that is well worth reading.… (more)

British physicist Jacqueline Mitton and illustrator Christina Balit team up in this third picture-book about the heavens, following upon their Zoo In the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations and Kingdom of the Sun: A Book of the Planets. Here they profile thirteen lesser-known constellations (fifteen, if one considers the three constituent elements of Argo), pairing a brief synopsis of the Greek mythological story behind each constellation name, with gorgeous illustrations of the mythological figures in question. An afterword gives more information about the various constellations, while the decorative endpapers show the northern and southern skies...

Much like Zoo in the Sky, I found Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations to be an engaging book, one which explores a fascinating topic, and which contains absolutely beautiful illustrations. I have long been an admirer of Balit's work, and am glad to have finally tracked down this follow-up to Zoo in the Sky, which I read when it first came out in the 1990s, and then recently reread. I do wish that more details had been given, when it comes to the mythological stories being presented, but I appreciated the blending of scientific and mythological education here. This probably would have been a three-star title for me, but Balit's beautiful artwork, with its vibrant colors, appealingly stylized figures, and use of foil stars, was so enjoyable that I raised my rating. Recommended to young sky watchers and star lovers.… (more)

British physicist Jacqueline Mitton and illustrator Christina Balit team up in this gorgeous picture-book examination of the constellations. Profiling nineteen stellar groupings - eight from the northern sky, eleven from the southern - the book gives a brief description of the location of each, and of the animal they are said to resemble. The decorative endpapers show a star map of the northern and southern skies...

One of a number of picture-books about celestial bodies from Mitton and Balit - other titles include Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations, The Planet Gods: Myths and Facts About the Solar System and Zodiac: Celestial Circle of the Sun - Zoo In the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations was first published in 1998, and appears to have been their first collaboration. I recall looking through it, when it first came out, and, having long been an admirer of Balit's artwork, am glad to have reread it today. The illustrations here are absolutely gorgeous! I would have liked it if there had been more information about the mythological underpinnings of some of these constellation names, or more stories about them, but I still think it makes a good introduction to the general idea of constellations for younger children. For my own part, I have always had some trouble seeing the actual animals, when looking at constellations in the sky, but I still enjoy the idea that others have found such a creative way to identify them. I'd love, at some point, to see some kind of global comparative work, listing the constellation names and configurations from different cultures, over time. Recommended to young sky watchers and star lovers.… (more)