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The writer Dava Sobel is committed to bringing hidden histories into the spotlight, and celebrating the work of pioneering scientists and inventors.

She first worked for newspapers and magazines, and was nearly 50 when she published her first book – Longitude, which became an international bestseller and inspired a television drama starring Michael Gambon. It tells the story of the 18th century clockmaker John Harrison, who spent decades trying to create a timepiece which would remain accurate at sea, enabling sailors to calculate their precise position.

Since then she has written about Galileo and his daughter, the astronomer Copernicus, and the women of the Harvard Observatory. Her most recent book is The Elements of Marie Curie, examining the extraordinary life of the double Nobel Laureate and the women who worked in her laboratory.

Dava's musical selections include Handel, Mendelssohn and Haydn.