{ "item_title" : "The Transits of Venus", "item_author" : [" William Sheehan", "John Westfall "], "item_description" : "Sheehan and Westfall paint a picture of the history of this rare phenomenon through this year's transit as well as that of June 5-6, 2012. They interweave a discussion of its scientific significance with the stories of the people who went to great lengths to be a part of its legacy, such as Jeremiah Horrocks, the first known viewer of the transit, who began his observations a whole day early in case of inaccurate calculations; Captain James Cook, who sailed halfway around the world just to take a viewing party to an advantageous point on the globe, keeping his crew healthy on the long voyage by tricking them into eating sauerkraut; and Jean Chappe d'Auteroche, who paid the ultimate price to see Venus's tiny silhouette. A background in the history of astronomy is also provided, from the experiments of the ancients through the Copernican revolution to using radar to determine astronomical distances.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/63/388/949/1633889491_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "21.95", "online_price" : "21.95", "our_price" : "21.95", "club_price" : "21.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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