Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Introduction. A Grandmother’s Secret Life 1
4. Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682–1880
5. Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley’s Comet 1758 11
6. Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith 26
7. Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley’s Comet 1835 46
8. Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian 55
9. Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room 72
10. Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880–1930
11. Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 91
12. Chapter Seven. Darwin’s Cousins 102
13. Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley’s Comet 1910 119
14. Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe 126
15. Chapter Ten. War Production 145
16. Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 159
17. Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930–1964
18. Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times 177
19. Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief 198
20. Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 220
21. Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition 233
22. Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club 256
23. Chapter Seventeen. The Victor’s Share 276
24. Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee 298
25. Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley’s Comet 1986 318
26. Acknowledgments 323
27. Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts 325
28. Notes 333
29. Research Notes and Bibliography 373
30. Index 401
31. Illustration Credits 412