American Eclipse Audiobook By David Baron cover art

American Eclipse

A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World

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American Eclipse

By: David Baron
Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
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In the scorching summer of 1878, with the Gilded Age in its infancy, three tenacious and brilliant scientists raced to Wyoming and Colorado to observe a rare total solar eclipse. One sought to discover a new planet. Another - an adventuresome female astronomer - fought to prove that science was not anathema to femininity. And a young megalomaniacal inventor, with the tabloid press fast on his heels, sought to test his scientific bona fides and light the world through his revelations.

David Baron brings to three-dimensional life these three competitors - James Craig Watson, Maria Mitchell, and Thomas Edison - and thrillingly re-creates the fierce jockeying of 19th-century American astronomy. With spellbinding accounts of train robberies and Indian skirmishes, the mythologized age of the last days of the Wild West comes alive as never before. A magnificent portrayal of America's dawn as a scientific superpower, American Eclipse depicts a young nation that looked to the skies to reveal its towering ambition and expose its latent genius.

©2017 David Baron (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Americas Astronomy Astronomy & Space Science History History & Philosophy Science United States

Critic reviews

"With verbal aplomb and a jaunty pace, Jonathan Yen deftly narrates this tale of scientific adventure.... Yen keeps listeners engaged by embracing the momentum of discovery, driving the plot, and adding color through voices and accents." (AudioFile)
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This a good primer for what to expect out of the 2017 eclipse and the one coming in the 2020's. It is a wonderful historical narrative about the slow development of scientific theories. Especially how the only scientific facts are those that tell us what Nature isn't. In some small part this book gives an insight into how scientific progress comes after a society is able to fund it when its economy has developed excess capital much like that needed for the arts. There is also some exposition on the negative effects of competition and ego in science. It also reminds us of the slow recognition of woman's place in science and society.

Nature, Scientific Discovery, Equality, & Eclipse

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Too many facts and numbers. There was.not enough information regarding what the characters looked liked..

The history of various inventors. I liked the description of the women and the part that placed in history.

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while the book stumbles a bit after the headliner event, the while is still a great story. I loved hearing about the state of science before and after the Great Eclipse.

wonderful tale

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The book's premise was validated in that the eclipse described was influential in establishing America as a world scientific power, but this book was only marginally engaging.

Good, but dated to this year's eclipse.

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I loved this book! I heard about it on the podcast Science Talk and decided to purchase it. I am a regular Jane who loves science but doesn't learn it easily. I am more of a history person so this was a perfect way to learn about solar eclipses. Baron truly brings the stories of Edison, Mitchell, and Watson to life. I knew little about Mitchell and now have a new historic woman to discover. I'm from Cincinnati and a member of the Cincinnati Observatory so I loved reading about us and Abbe Cleveland in Chapter 13. Once I started it, I couldn't stop. It was engaging and made so many scientific principles simple and enjoyable to understand. Will be looking into more of David Baron's books. So glad I heard him on the podcast.

Eclispse brought to life!

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The book is more about the lives of contemporary scientists than about eclipses. Liked the little bit about history of women astrologists.

Just OK.

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I'm not sure I'd have found this as interesting if I read it a couple years ago, but in the run-up to the Aug 21 2017 American eclipse it was really fun. Gave me a lot of interesting material to share with others traveling to see the eclipse like I was. Author does a good job of contextualizing the event, but ultimately the relative dearth of information about what regular folks thought about the 1878 eclipse means the bulk of the story is about the famous people involved and the general circumstances.

Great prep for eclipse viewing

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What would have made American Eclipse better?

A reader who simply read the book, rather than someone who dramatized every word, so much so that I couldn't stand to listen to it. Just tell the tale!!

What did you like best about this story?

Great idea for a book. Hope to read it some time.

What didn’t you like about Jonathan Yen’s performance?

Too dramatic and inflected. Just read the thing!! The inflections were so distracting I couldn't hear the story, and avoided it.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Great book, good idea for a book.

Don't listen to Jonathan Yen!

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Rambling collection of factoids that add up to a waste of time. Don’t bother with this one. You’ll get nothing out of it.

Disorganized and irrelevant

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