In the dramatic tradition of the best selling Longitude, this book charts the historical path of observational astronomy's most daunting challenge: measuring the distance to a star. The greatest scientific minds applied themselves in vain to the problem across the millennia, beginning with the ancient Greeks. Not until the 19th century would three astronomers, armed with the best telescopes of the age, race to conquer this astronomical Everest, their contest ending in a virtual dead heat. Against a backdrop filled with kidnappings, dramatic rescue, swordplay, madness, and bitter rivalry, the author brings to life the heroes of this story. A destitute boy plucked from a collapsed building becomes the greatest telescope maker the world has ever seen, a hot tempered Dane's nose is lopped off in a duel over mathematics, a merchant's apprentice is forced to choose between the lure of money and his passion for astronomy, and a musician astounds the world by discovering a new planet from his own backyard.