Attention is Discovery
Our monthly Universe Unplugged workshop series will surely engage, inspire, and strengthen your understanding of the universe around us!
While workshops are in session, at least one adult must accompany their child/children for the duration of the program. Adults must purchase a general admission ticket to accompany their child/children.
For questions about these workshops, please email our Education Team at education@starhop.com.
Attention is Discovery Program Sponsor
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Unitil Room
August 2nd, 2025, 4:30 pm-6 pm. Doors open at 4:00
Our special guest is a visual artist, researcher, and author of “Attention is Discovery: The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt”. You do not want to miss the chance to meet and learn from Anna Von Mertens!
Join us at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center for your opportunity to immerse yourself in the story of Henrietta Leavitt and the Harvard Computers, who laid the foundation for modern cosmology at the turn of the 20th century.
Run time: 60 - 75 minutes
Cost: Free to $30, depending on age and membership status. Click the button for details.
General Admission to the Discovery Center is included; capacity is limited, and registration is required.
Copies of the book are on sale in the Science Store! Get yours signed by the author.
“Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has a diameter of about 100,000 light years—a figure we can calculate because of the work of Henrietta Leavitt (1868–1921), who spent decades studying glass plate photographs of the night sky. Visual artist and researcher Anna Von Mertens’s Attention Is Discovery is a fascinating portrait of this remarkable woman who laid the foundation for modern cosmology, as well as an exploration of the power of looking and its revelatory role at the center of scientific discovery. Ushering us into the scientific community of women who worked alongside Leavitt, now known as the Harvard Computers, Von Mertens describes the inventive methodologies Leavitt devised to negotiate the era’s emerging photographic technology.”