NCW Libraries

"With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, 28-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls' trip to Vegas to celebrate. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn't know, until she does exactly that. This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father's plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn't feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under...

"This memoir charts the life of Dr. Aomawa Shields as an astronomer, classically-trained actor, mother, and Black woman in STEM as she searches for life in the universe while building a meaningful life here on Earth"-- Provided by publisher. "A stunning and inspiring memoir charting a life as an astronomer, classically-trained actor, mother, and Black woman in STEM, searching for life in the universe while building a meaningful life here on Earth....

This engaging picture book biography shows how pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin, who discovered evidence for the existence of dark matter, the most mysterious substance in the universe, changed people's understanding of both the universe and what a woman can do.

Maria Mitchell's curiosity about the night sky led her to spend hours studying the stars. She discovered a comet as a young woman, winning an award from the King of Denmark for being the first person to discover a new comet using a telescope. Now famous as "the lady astronomer," Maria went on to become a professional astronomer, an unheard of achievement for a woman in the 19th century. She was the first woman to get any kind of government job when...

For anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered, "Are we alone?" A brilliant examination of the science behind the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and its pioneer, Jill Tarter, the inspiration for the main character in Carl Sagan's Contact. Jill Tarter is a pioneer, an innovator, an adventurer, and a controversial force. At a time when women weren't encouraged to do much outside the home, Tarter ventured as far out as she...

"Ever since Williamina Fleming was little she was curious, and her childhood fascination with light inspired her life's work. Mina became an astronomer in a time when women were discouraged from even looking through telescopes. Yet Mina believed that the universe, with its billions of stars, was a riddle--and she wanted to help solve it. Mina ultimately helped to create a map of the universe that paved the way for astronomers. Newbery Honor-winning...

"Once upon a time there lived a girl who swept floors and washed dishes, and was little more than a servant to her family. Until, one day, an invitation arrived. It was an invitation to a new country and a new beginning--a place where Caroline's dreams, her fascination with the night sky, and her extraordinary talent would open up a world of beauty and renown, and make her the belle of the scientific ball. From humble beginnings and in spite of many...

In late-eighteenth-century Ireland, accidental stargazer Caroline Ainsworth learns that her life is not what it seems when her father, Arthur, throws himself from his rooftop observatory. Caroline had often assisted her father with his observations in pursuit of an unknown planet. When astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus, Caroline could only watch helplessly as unremitting jealousy drove Arthur to madness. Now, gone blind from staring at...

In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children." It wasn't until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the New York Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites in...

After an astronomer discovers communication emanating from the star Vega, she leads an international team in deciphering it, and travels through space to contact the senders of the message.