On a scorching July afternoon in 1878 at the dawn of the Gilded Age the moons shadow descended on the American West darkening skies from Montana Territory to Texas. This rare celestial eventa total solar eclipseoffered a priceless opportunity to solve some of the solar systems most enduring riddles and it prompted a clutch of enterprising scientists to brave the wild frontier in a grueling race to the Rocky Mountains. Acclaimed science journalist David Baron long fascinated by eclipses recrea