Following in the footsteps of Longitude comes Measuring the Universe by Kitty Ferguson. A small, handsome book, it tells the story of the building of the cosmic distance ladder. Starting in the third century B.C. with the first accurate(ish) scientific measurement of the Earth's circumference and ending with the current debate about the size and age of the Universe, the book covers a lot of ground. The retelling of history (about the first two-thirds of the book) is an enjoyable read. While explaining the distances between planets and stars are measured, Ferguson includes interesting asides on the historical context and the characters who made the discoveries. In the last chapters, the direction of the book is somewhat lost and the chronology gets slightly confusing--possibly the result of attempting to cram in too much information. This resulted in the jettisoning of the character sketches that made the earlier chapters interesting--possibly because astronomers who are still alive made the discoveries. If you know something about modern astronomy from other popular books or if you're interested in the history (pre-1950) of our ideas on the size and nature of the Universe, this book will help place the ideas in a historical context. Those unfamiliar with cosmology may find the last chapters slightly confusing. --Brian Goodwin