"Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits--torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community. It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer...

"Beyond the skyline of Toledo stands the Toledo Institute of Astronomy, ... a beacon of scientific learning for astronomers far and wide. One of these is George Dermont, ... who's trying to prove the scientific existence of a Gateway to God ... Its newest star is Irene Sparks, a pragmatist and mathematician invited to lead the Institute's work on a massive superconductor being constructed below Toledo. This would be a scientist's dream come true,...

"A biography of Carl Sagan focusing on his childhood and culminating in the Voyager mission and the Golden Record"--Provided by publisher.

"Like Michelangelo, Galileo is another Renaissance great known just by his first name -- a name that is synonymous with scientific achievement. Born in Pisa, Italy, in the sixteenth century, Galileo contributed to the era's great rebirth of knowledge. He invented a telescope to observe the heavens. From there, not even the sky was the limit! He turned long-held notions about the universe topsy turvy with his support of a sun-centric solar system....

When a blind astronomer predicts a solar eclipse, nineteen-year-old Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz sets off to investigate his claim.

Describes the life and work of Eratosthenes, the Greek geographer and astronomer who accurately measured the circumference of the Earth.