A great story of problem-solving to collect data. Something all students should read as it sets the example of what you can accomplish with planning and desire.

**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book is part chronology, part travelogue, part history in its discussions of the viewing, tracking, and reporting of solar eclipses, (which is how I got interested in it due to the eclipse recently over North America) and how the eclipses confirmed the second part of Einstein's relativity theory about how and to what extent rays of light are refracted as they pass by and come into contact with the sun. Besides making the science understandable to a lay person, the authors do a great job intertwining the significant players (Einstein and other scientists and astronomers in England, Germany, America, Argentina, and other places) without reducing to the text to a series of numbers, dates and places.

This review has been submitted to Amazon and posted on Goodreads.

Great science writing and storytelling

I loved this book. It has everything I want in great science writing: clearly explained science, lots of history, political background and biographical information. It reads more like a novel than a science book. The authors show a good sense of humor and keep everything conversational. They also get into the personalities involved and their conflicts. I loved the epilogue and even the notes are worth reading. This was just a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

Being in the right place at the right time to observe a solar eclipse is a feat in modern times. In the 19-teens it was even more of an effort. This is the tale of the effort to prove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Numerous astronomers worldwide came to Einstein’s aid throughout that decade and this is a chronicle of their efforts, their adventures, near misses and ultimate success.

What I loved about this book is that it reads like a novel, giving insights into the people and their relationships, while at the same time delivering a chronicle of events and scientific background. There’s a great balance here that kept me engaged, attached to the adventures and helped me understand the science as well.

I adored Cathie Pelletier’s writing a couple decades ago when she wrote some of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. This book makes me anxious to seek out other works she’s written since. This book wasn’t remotely humorous, but I can’t recommend it enough if you’d like some great entertainment along with a much better understanding of Einstein and the efforts to prove his breakthrough theory.