"Chasing Venus is a fascinating read,
wonderfully well written, a vivid portrayal of the world of 18th-century
science and its interactions with the wider intellectual and political world of
the time. It is extensively researched, with a bibliography of about 500 items,
mostly primary sources, in seven languages (English, French, German, Latin,
Russian, Dutch, and Swedish), and beautifully illustrated with reproductions of
contemporary drawings and portraits. Wulf makes the excitement of the
enterprise and the heroic courage and dedication of its participants come
dramatically alive", SIAM News (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)