WOMENWOMEN ININ ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
AntoniaAntonia MM ªª VarelaVarela PP éérezrez InstitutoInstituto dede AstrofAstrof íísicasica dede CanariasCanarias
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 SEPTENIO GOBCAN SUMMARYSUMMARY
Reflections Antiquity Middle Ages Astronomy in the Renaissance XIX Century Women Computers Pickering ’s “Harem ” Renowned Women Astronomers of Harvard
XX Century: New Times The Canarian Observatories : Women in the Shadow
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ReflectionsReflections Women in the Experimental Sciences , Claramunt et al., 2003 1. Psychological : SEX ---- GENDER -—RÔLE ----- STEREOTYPES 2. Ideological : machism , feminism , sexism , mysogeny … 3. Pedagogical : mixed education , coeducacion , etc.
Science is NEUTRAL and OBJECTIVE... however : 1. Science and Technology …ANDROCENTRIC 2. Masculine scientific authorityp responsible for feminine invisibility and the exclusion of women in science . In Mathematics and Astronomy …FAMILY ASSISTANT . 1. History of science partial and skewed . Aristotle : “Women have fewer teeth than men .” St.Augustin : “Woman is a weak , unstable animal... ” St . Thomas Aquinus ::“This is the subjection with which woman , by her nature , was placed beneath her husband ; because nature herself gave man greater discernment . “ Darwin :”…men achieve greater eminence in any matter they undertake .”
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ANTIQUITYANTIQUITY
Prehistory (25000 -8000 BC) …nomads , feminine matriarchal society (fertility , mother -gods )... sedentariness and patriarchy .
The incursion of women into the world of philosophy and science dates from Antiquity ...VI century B.C . ( Pythagorean school ).
The societies of classical antiquity were mainly patriarchal. For example, Greek and Roman women never possessed great political power, they were not members of the polis or of cities in any full sense. For this reason, we must value the role of all these women in various fields since, in spite of living in an era in which society was dominated by a particularly male point of view, they nevertheless achieved their place in the history of humanity. C. Aitana Roures Segura
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 WOMENWOMEN ININ ANTIQUITYANTIQUITY http:// fundamentosporcar.wordpress.com /2009/03/29/mujeres -de -lantiguedad
Merit Ptah, 2700 B.C., the first THEANO, IV B.C., wife of Women scientific. Pythagoras. She is thought to have written treatises on En Hedu’Anna, 2350 B.C., Astronomy mathematics, physics and & mathematics, medicine, and also on the golden proportion.
AGNODICE 350 B.C. was famous in the field of medicine and obstetrics, but also for having led one of the first feminine MARÍA THE JEWESS, III century rebellions. B.C. invented two- and three-spouted alambics.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ANTIG ÜEDAD Odisea en el Espacio.. L. Ventura.@IAC
Greece Ge = Earth Metrein = Measure Geometry Geometry = Measurement ofofof thethethe Earth Pythagoras ( 580 –––500 B.CB.CB.C.)B.C .) : TheTheThefirst formulations ofofof thethethe mathematics ofofof space
...... and... andandandCosmology Cosmos = Ordered universe Cosmology = Study ofofof thethethe supreme order ofofof things ...a matter ofofof greater concern tototo philosophers than tototo scientistsscientists...... Cosmos = Universo ... in contradistinctionLogos = ReasonReason,, tototo... tothoughtthought,... , reflectionR Kaos = Desorden Cosmology = Reflections ononon thethethe Cosmos
TheTheThePythagoreansPythagoreans: : thethethefirst tototo suggest a moving Earth ---TheTheThe Earth, thethetheSun andandandother planets would be round globes orbiting a central firefirefire--- TheTheTheThestars AristotelianAristotelian- are holes in ---Ptolemaic thethethePtolemaiccelestial vaultmodel through which their light isisis perceivedperceived; ; fitted---TheTheThe perfectly harmonic rotation thethethe “““word “wordofofof thethethe celestial ofofof GodGod” spheres”””...... produces “““celestial“celestial musicmusic””””....
The Book ofofof GenesisGenesis: : OnOnOnthethethe first day the Earth ...... and... and only ononon thethethe fourth day God created thethethe Sun, Moon and stars ...
The idea ofofofthethethe Earth and Man as thethethecentre ofofofcreation demanded a geocentric cosmology ...... ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ANTIQUITYANTIQUITY AGLAONIKE OF THESSALY, first woman astronomer .
She lived around the year 400 B.C . She was born in Thessaly and is known as the first woman astronomer in western history . This woman certainly studied in Mesopotamia since she was perfectly familiar with the Saros cycle studied by the Chaldeans . With this knowledge she could predict eclipses with great precision for the period .
Such knowledge surely would have given her an important rank in a society that was greatly influenced by the fear that certain celestial phenomena , such as eclipses, produced in people .
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ANTIQUITYANTIQUITY Hypatia of Alexandria : astronomer and mathematician
Name: Hypatia Born: Alexandría, Egypt, c. 355 A.D. Died: 415/6 A.D. School/Tradition: Neoplatonism Calendario Astrónomas Main interests: Astronomy, mathematics
Influenced by Plotinus, Aristotle, Plato
Influenced a Synesius de Cyrene, Socrates Scholasticus ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 HypatiaHypatia
The School of Athens - fresco by Raffaello Sanzio
Hypatia taught her disciples in her own home .
Among her disciples were Christians , including her favourite Synesius of Cyrene , Bishop of Ptolemais (409 - 13 A.D.), from a rich and powerful family , who maintained a great friendship with his teacher . He left much written information on Hypatia, and it is through these that we know of her works , although none of these has survived . Her disciples formed a close -knit group of pagan and Christian aristocrats , some of whom held high office.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 Hypatia", impression by the English pre-Raphaelite painter HypatiaHypatia Charles William Mitchell (1885).
Martyr of science and symbol of the supposed decadence of the classical world before Christianity and irrationality : her anomalous character as a woman dedicated to thought and learning , her faith in paganism at the time of Theodosian Christianity and the brutal tearing of her flesh by an enraged mob of Christians .
Edward Gibbon wrote that Cyril was so jealous of her influence and popularity that ”he soon prompted , or accepted , the sacrifice of a virgin, who professed the religion of the Greeks .”
However , her murder was an exceptional and unique case. In fact , the Alexandrian Neoplatonic school lasted until the VII century .
Feminist movements have claimed her as the paradigm of the “liberated woman ”.
@wikipediaESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 End of science of that epoch Rise of Christianity ... Europe enters into the Dark Ages and Greek science survives only in Byzantium.
EM ( s.III ) Jewish healer . Julia Saturnina ( S.VI -VII), the first woman to practise medicine in Spain (Ref. Mujeres en Ciencias Experimentales , Cuadernos de la UNED.Claramunt et al.).
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 MIDDLEMIDDLE AGESAGES
When ? from thethethe christianization ofofof thethethe Roman Empire (IV d.C. ) until thethethe XV century
1000 years ofofof darkness ---TheTheThe Middle Ages a dark period forforfor sciencescience. . -Religion adopts AristotelianAristotelian- ---PtolemaicPtolemaic cosmologycosmology. ... -TheTheThe Creation andandand itsitsits mysteries are notnotnotthethethe concern ofofof manman, , butbutbutare revealed truthstruths. .
TheTheTheFire ofofof Ignorance ~ 400 A.D. Burning ofofof thethethe Library ofofof AlexandriaAlexandria: ::: death sentence ofofof “““pagan “paganpagan””””culture ... andandandananan unreckonable losslossloss tototo HumanityHumanity...... During thethethe entire Middle Ages (((and (andandandlaterlater, , until thethethe time ofofofthethethe InquisitionInquisition)) thethetheChurch maintained thethethe “““unchristian “unchristianunchristian””””practice ofofof burning allallallthat was considered heretical. One ofofof thethethe most illustrious victims ofofof thethethe auto da fe was Giordano Bruno (1548(1548----1600),, who ESACcontradicted-Madridthethethe 4thHoly JuneScriptures 2009andandand defended ananan“““acentric “acentricacentric””””cosmologycosmology. . Women were excluded from social and cultural life .
Convents and monasteries : librarians , scribes , teachers .
Woman teaching geometry. Illustration at the beginning of the Medieval translation of the ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 principle of Euclid (c. 1310) MIDDLEMIDDLE AGESAGES
HildegardHildegard ofof BingenBingen (1098(1098 --1179)1179)
Born: 1098 Bermersheim (Germany) Died: 17 September, 1179 at Bingen Order: Benedictine
At 14 years of age entered the Monastery of Disibodenberg, where she was to become abbess.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 Protestificatio de Scivias, Fol. 1, Facsímil de Eibingen del códice de Ruperstberg HildegardHildegard ofof BingenBingen
In 1141, at the age of 42, she had a very powerful episode of visions , during which she received the order to write down all her future visions . From then onwards , Hildegard wrote down all her experiences eventually to produce her first book Scivias (“Know the way ”), which she would conclude in 1151.
In 1148, a committee of theologians , at the request of Pope Eugenius III, studies and approves part of Scivias . Such was her fame that she became known as Sybil of the Rhein . People went to listen to her words of wisdom , or to seek cures or guidance .
In this same year , a vision moves Hildegarda to found a new monastery in Rupertsberg . In her new monastery she dedicates herself to writing books on physics and medicine until 1158 and to finishing her collection of chants with the title Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum .
In 1165 she founds a second monastery in Eibingen , which she visited regularly twice weekly . ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 HildegardaHildegarda ’’ss worksworks
Religious : Scivias , on theological dogma Liber Vitae Meritorum , on theological ethics Liber Divinorum Operum , on cosmology , anthropology and theodicy .
Scientific : Liber Simplicis Medicinae o Physica , on the curative properties of plants and animals from a holistic perspective Liber Compositae Medicinae o Causae et curae , on the origin of illnesses and their treatments from a theoretical perspective
Another of her outstanding works is Lingua ignota , the first artificial language in history , causing her to be named patroness of Esperantists .
Hildegarda von Bingen ’s alphabet :
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegarda_de_Bingen#Galer.C3.ADa_de_im.C3.A1genes
Medieval painting of a spherical Earth with various seasons at the The Universe, Fol. 14, Scivias I, 3. same time. Fol. 38, Liber Divinorum OperumESAC -Madrid I, 4. 4th June 2009 Fátima of Madrid (X-XI centuries), Islamic astronomer
Spent most of her life in Cordoba, then the intellectual centre of the world.
•Daughter of the astronomer Maslama al-Mayriti. •Wrote a series of works called The Corrections of Fátima.
•Helped her father with correcting the Astronomical Tables of al-Khwarizmi, adjusting them to the meridian of Cordoba, to be used as the centre of coordinates for astronomical calculations.
•Prepared calendars.
•Calculated tables of the true position of the Sun, Moon and Planets.
•Compiled tables for trigonometric ratios and spherical trigonometry, astrological tables, ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 parallax tables, lunar phases and eclipses. TheThe RenaissanceRenaissance andand AstronomyAstronomy TheTheTheEl NuevoCopernican MundoRevolution ...y la nueva Ciencia A change ofofof perspective ...... revolutionary ... revolutionary but not fullyfully...... Copernicus (1473(1473-Hasta--- 1543) este momento,: proposes los axiomasa heliocentric de la “““cosmolog“cosmologcosmologísystem but íííaa dominantedominante”based ononon ”””esthethethe decir,same Ptolemaic mechanism ofofof epicyclesepicycles. de la visivisióóóón. n del Mundo y del Universo “““oficialmente“oficialmente aceptadaaceptada””””son :
Imperfect motion -LaLa Tierra es el centro del Universo (cosmolog(cosmologííííaa geocgeocééééntrica)ntrica) The observations -El mundoofofof Tycho de losBrahe Humanos ( 15461546- ---y 1601)el Cielo and tienenthethethe mathematics naturaleza ofofof ddiferenteiferenteJohannes Kepler (1571(1571----1630) allow thethethe orbits ofofof thethethe planets tototo be determineddetermined,, demonstrating thatthat: : ---thethethe orbits are not circular but ellipticalelliptical; ; ---thethethe motion isisis not uniform but acceleratedaccelerated, , thethethevelocity being greatest at perihelionperihelion.. End ofofof thethethe Tampocosupralunary habhabííííaa world prueba de que la Tierra fuese redonda, en cuyo caso, navegando hacia el Oeste se tentenííííaa que llegar a “““las“las IndiasIndias””””...... Galileo Galilei ( 1564 ---1642 ) , with hishishis telescopes (((among (among thethethe firstfirst), ), discoversdiscovers:: ---Sunspots ---The phases ofofof Venus ---Four moons around Jupiter With these ... Eldiscoveries descubrimientohe broughtdel “““Nuevo“Nuevodown MundoMundo”ananan axiom ”””plantea ofofof la“““classical “classicalclassical” posibilidad”””cosmologycosmology, de que las, cosas demonstrating that celestial bodies are not “““perfect “perfect and free from blemishblemish” ”””;;;; sean diferentes de como siempre se habhabííííanan querido imaginar ...y abre asasííííla puerta a una nueva era cientcientíííífica...fica...
Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727 ) :
discovers the law explaining both the fall of a ripe apple and Kepler’s laws of planetary motion... ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 THETHE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE ANDAND ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
The movement of cultural revitalization that took place in Western Europe in the XV and XVI centuries . Its principal exponents are to be found in the arts , although there was also renovation in literature and the sciences (both natural and and human)..
From medieval theocentrism to renaissance anthropocentrism .
The Renaissance sprang from the diffusion of humanistic ideas, which gave rise to a new conception of man and the world ..
More women wrote poetry and their interest in science , politics and music also increased . For example , Galileo corresponded with the Duchess of Tuscany concerning his astronomical discoveries and in defense of the Copernican hypothesis ..
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 TheThe ScientificScientific RevolutionRevolution (XVI(XVI andand XVIIXVII centuriescenturies ))
The Scientific Revolution of the XVI and XVII centuries witnessed a great influx of women into the field of science ; however , women were forbidden entry into the universities .
Assisted family members or helped with their skills in painting (scientific illustrations ).
Margaret Cavendish , an aristocrat of the XVII century and Duchess of Newcastle, took part in the most important scientific debates of her time. Although she was not permitted to be a fellow of the Royal Society , she was once allowed to attend one of its meetings.Others , the Duchess of Cavendish and the Marchioness of Châtelet .
In Germany , the tradition of female participation in production of scientific results enabled some women to take part in observational sciences , particularly astronomy . Between 1650 and 1710, women represented in Germany 14% of the scientists in astronomy . The best known of these women astronomers was Maria Winkelmann .
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 THETHE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE ANDAND ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
Sof ía Brahe (1556 -1643), Denmark .
Sister of Tycho Brahe. She show a great passion for the stars from early childhood.
In 1566, when she was 10 year old, she helped Tycho with his astronomical observations. Years later she wished to enter university but was prevented from doing so because of her sex, so she persuaded her parents to allow her to take private classes in mathematics, music, astrology, alchemy, medicine, geneology and classical literature.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 http://hypatia.morelos.gob.mx/hno5/conociendoa...htm THETHE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE ANDAND ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
Watercolour of the Sof ía Brahe (1556 -1643), Denmark . observatory and gardens of Uraniborg. @wikipedia
In her adolescence she worked at the her brother’s observatory called the Castle of Uraniborg on the island of Hven, the greatest pre-telescopic observatory.
• calculations of eclipses and cometary paths .
First Astronomical Research Centre
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 http://hypatia.morelos.gob.mx/hno5/conociendoa...htm THETHE RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE ANDAND ASTRONOMYASTRONOMY
Sof ía Brahe (1556 -1643), Denmark .
Her parents soon forced her to marry , which prevented her from continuing with her work . When her father died , 10 years later , she dedicated herself to alchemy , biology and horticulture . She also continued to help her brother at Uraniborg with his astronomical observations which formed the observational foundation for modern predictions of planetary orbits .
They were the first to measure the exact positions of the planets The compiled a catalogue of planetary positions over several decades . This catalogue was the most accurate set of uniform data concerning the positions of the planets with respect to the stellar background up to that time.
Kepler worked with Tycho and obtained his measurements ... enabling him to discover the three laws that govern planetary motion . These laws later provided the basis for the Universal Law of Gravitation of Newton.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 http://hypatia.morelos.gob.mx/hno5/conociendoa...htm MARIAMARIA CUNITZCUNITZ Mar ía Cunitz (1610 -1664), Silesia ( now in Poland ) Daughter and wife of physicians , her husband was an amateur astronomer She attempted to correct the Rudolphine Tables of Kepler She wrote Urania Propitia in 1650. She became known as the "Pallas of Silesia" .
Elizabeth Korpman, married the astronomer Hevelius, and continued making new observations to improve the work of Cunitz. Firmamentum sobieskanum and ProdomusESAC -Madrid astronomiacae 4th June 2009 , Catalogue of 1888 stars. MARMAR ÍÍAA MARGARETHEMARGARETHE WINKELMANNWINKELMANN KIRCHKIRCH
Winkelmann (1670 -1720), Germany Started in astronomy with her uncle , married Kirsch, Prussia ’s best -known astronomer Preparation of calendars , planetary conjunctions , etc. Discovered the Comet of 1702, attributed to her husband . Fought to enter the Berlin Academy by was denied entry ... being a woman ... with no university studies ... The feared that she would “set a bad example ”. Since the founding of the Berlin Academy of Sciences only 14 of the 2900 members have been ESAC -Madridwomen, 4th June 2009of these only 4 with full membership. OtherOther womenwomen astronomersastronomers inin thethe RenaissanceRenaissance
InIn 1680,1680, JeanneJeanne DUMDUM ÉÉEE :: “women were not incapable of studying because they had the same brain as men .” Since she was 17 year old she devoted herself to astronomy . Her works are in the Bibliot éque Nationale in Paris. Studies on the motion of the Earth and establishing the theories of Copernicus and Galileo.
Nicole -Reine Étable de la Bri ère LEPAUTE (1723 -1788), wife of the King ’s horlogian , investigated oscillations of the pendulum ... her husband ’s Trait é d´horlog érie …reputation for being one of the best astronomical computers . Worked with Lalande and Clairaut on studies of Comet Halley, some of her achievements attributed to Clairaut.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 CAROLINECAROLINE HERSCHELHERSCHEL
Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750- 1848), England. Sister, assistant and housekeeper of Sir William Herschel. Interests: Mathematics, astronomy and philosophy. Honorary member of the Astronomical Society of London (now the Royal Astronomical Society) Gold Medal for Science of the King of Prussia. The first professional woman Discovered 8 comets, 3 nebulae and astronomer in history …earning 50 compiledESAC - twoMadrid astronomical 4th June 2009 catalogues. pounds a year. Wang Zhenyi (1768-1797), astronomer
•Studied lunar eclipses with models she built in her garden.
•Wrote 12 books on mathematics and astronomy.
•Took meteorological measurements in an effort to predict droughts and floods
In 1994 the IAU named a crater on Venus after her.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 XIXXIX CENTURYCENTURY WOMENWOMEN COMPUTERSCOMPUTERS Between 1859 and 1940, 426 American women worked measuring and classifying stellar spectra. MARIAMARIA MITCHELMITCHEL (1818(1818 --1889)1889) First woman astronomer in the United States . From a Quaker family Worked as a librarian and collaborated intensely in her father ’s observatory . She defined herself as: “having a normal level of activity but with extraordinary patience .” ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 First woman to enter the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1848) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1850).
Worked at Vassar College, earning only a third as much as her colleagues. She was the first director of the Observatory..
Collaborated with the US Naval Observatory.
Received the gold medal of the King of Denmark.
Founded the Assocation for the Advancement of Women.. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 “The stars are not just bright points of light, they also transmit the greatness of the Universe."
She was famous for asking her students: “Did you read that in a book or did you observe it directly? "
“We all need imagination in science”.
•Calculated tables of the positions of Venus. •Discovered the comet named after her: "Miss Mitchell's Comet“ (Comet 1847 VI) •She has a crater named after her on the Moon. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 WILLIAMINA FLEMING (Mina or Mrs Fleming) Women astronomers : professors or observatory assistants . Most notable at Harvard: Williamina Fleming Born in Scotland in 1857
1878 emigrates to Boston with her husband, who abandons her pregnant with his child after a year.
Works as Dr Edward Pickering’s assistant, in Classified 10498 stars, discovered more than 300 variable stars and 59 nebulae. 1879 E. Pickering Fleming Published in Astrophysical Journal and in the is bornESAC .-Madrid 4th June 2009 Harvard Annals. PICKERINGPICKERING ’’SS ASTRONOMICALASTRONOMICAL HAREMHAREM
Mitchel convinced Pickering that women were particularly skilled at observations and tedious and repetitive calculations . Pickering then hired 21 women to carry out the classification and cataloguing of stars .
Photograph of Pickering together with the women on his staff (year 1913).
http://www.astrogea.org/surveys/dones_harvard.htmESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 From left to right:: Ida Woods, Evelyn Leland, Florence Cushman, Grace Brooks, Mary Van, Henrietta Leavitt, Mollie O'Reilly, Mabel Gill, Alta Carpenter, Annie Jump Cannon, Dorothy Black and Arville Walker, together with Frank Hinkely and Professor Edward King (year 1918).
For working seven hours a day, six days a week, they earned between 25 and 35 cents an hour. Some were known as “computers” because they carried out the classification of stars and the reduction of complex data; others, who worked as assistants and were called “recorders” because they recorded the data.
Rigidly directed by Fleming, whom they called the “keeper of the archive” of astronomical photographs at Harvard, first institutional post awarded to a woman at Harvard. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OtherOther HarvardHarvard womenwomen astronomersastronomers ofof notenote
AntoniaAntonia MauryMaury (1866 -1952) ….study and discovery of the star Beta Lyrae . AnnieAnnie JumpJump CannonCannon (1863 -1941) ….stars of the Southern Hemisphere and the spectroscopic classification system that we now use. She succeeded Fleming. Dover, Delaware. Graduated at the University of Wellesley in 1884. Travelled for several years and went to Europe, becoming a devotee of photography and music. In 1894 she returned to Wellesley for a year to take an advanced course in astronomy, and in 1895 she matriculated at Radcliffe in order to continue the lectures given by Edward C. Pickering, who was the director of Harvard College Observatory. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OtherOther HarvardHarvard womenwomen astronomersastronomers ofof notenote
In 1896 Annie Jump Cannon was employed by Professor Edward Charles Pickering to catalogue variable stars and to classify the spectra of stars observed at the Arequipa station .
Construction of the Arequipa station with the Misti volcano in the background. http://www.astrogea.org/surveys/oak_ridge.htm#La%20Estaci%F3n%20de%20Arequipa ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OtherOther HarvardHarvard womenwomen astronomersastronomers ofof notenote
Interior of the station. Meridian photometer.
The contribution of the Arequipa station to astrophysics was incalculable. They help in the observation of the Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds, which led Miss Henrietta S. Leavitt to find the famous period-luminosity that permitted the determination of the size of our Galaxy, the distances of neighbouring galaxies and finally to the distance scale of the Universe (Hubble’s law).
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OtherOther HarvardHarvard womenwomen astronomersastronomers ofof notenote
HenriettaHenrietta LevittLevitt (1968 -1921) …discovered 1777 variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds and the period - luminosity law of the Cepheids .
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OtherOther HarvardHarvard womenwomen astronomersastronomers ofof notenote HenriettaHenrietta LevittLevitt In the course of her work, Leavitt discovered four novas and around 2400 variables – practically half of all the variable stars then known. She also studied Algol-type eclipsing variables and asteroids.
She was a member of Phi Kappa Beta, the American Association of University Women, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and she was also an honorary member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
Her important contribution to the advancement of science was internationally recognized when, in 1925, the Swedish Academy of Sciences nominated her for the Nobel Prize.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 XXXX centurycentury ,, newnew timestimes Until the middle of the century women were barred access to observing facilities.
The only woman permitted to use a telescope in the ’30s was CECILIA PAYNE-GAPOSCHKIN (1900-1980), given her great reputation, but she was only permitted a few hours out of courtesy, not regular access. 150 articles, 4 books and 1st woman professor of Harvard.
MARGARET BURBIDGE (1919-), British. Jointly with her husband, she made notable contributions to our understanding of the formation of chemical elements in the interiors of stars through nuclear fusion (nucleosynthesis) and the theory of quasars. Director of the RGO and president of the American Astronomical Society.
The 1st woman to use a telescope officially at Mount Palomar was the American VERA RUBIN (b. 1928 in Philadelphia). Pioneer in the study of galactic rates of rotation. Her discovery of “flat rotation curves” is the most direct and strongest evidence for dark matter...”Equality is as elusive as dark matter.”ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 XXXX Century,Century, newnew timestimes
JOCELYN BELL -BURNELL ( née Burnell , b. 1943). Failed her “11+ exam” to enter grammar school. Passed the “13+ exam” and entered York Grammar School. 1965: graduated in Glasgow. 1968: obtained her PhD in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge.
During her doctorate she discovered, together with her director (Anthony Hewish) the class of objects that were later to be called pulsars.
THIS DISCOVERY, AND ITS THEORETICAL EXPLANATION WON HEWISH AND RYLE THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS.
Jocelyn Bell was excluded because she was still a doctoral student when she made the discovery !
She continued her career in prestigious research centres, including the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and Oxford University.. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 In July 1967 Bell detected regularly (1/second) pulsating signal s ("Little Green Man 1" (PSR B1919+21), later identified by Hewish as a rapidly rotating neutron star.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 PARIS PISMIS (1911-1999), astronomer.
•Born in Istambul, of Armenian origin.
•The first woman in Turkey to enter university, gaining her doctorate in mathematics.
•Married a Mexican mathematician and became the first professional astronomer in Mexican history.
• Worked in the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (Mexico)
•Left as her legacy more than 100 astronomers currently working in UNAM (Mexico)
•Discovered 20 open clusters and 3 globular clusters. •Contributed to the first explanation of spiral structureESAC - inMadrid galaxies 4th June 2009 Charlotte Moore Sitterly Solar spectrum
Catherine Cesarsky (Director of ESO)
Carolyn Shoemaker Codiscoverer of the comet
Margherita Hack (Director of Trieste Obs.) Melissa McGrath Hubble Space Telescope team
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 OBSERVATORIESOBSERVATORIES ININ THETHE CANARIESCANARIES WomenWomen inin thethe shadowshadow 1856-1912 1959
1960 JESSIE DUNCAN
MARÍA ALMEIDA
1985
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900)
Born in Naples on 3 January, 1819 1825: Bedford. 1835: Cape Observatory (South Africa). 1843: Assistent to Sir Thomas Maclear Observations of Comet Halley and the Great Comet. 1845: Astronomer Royal for Scotland and professor of astronomy at Edinburgh University. ESAC -MadridEdinburgh 4th June 2009 Observations vols. xi-xv 1855: R. Stephenson places his yacht Titania at Piazzi Smyth’s disposal, Titania. G.B. Airy approves the project and the First Lord of the Admiralty grants permission. 1856: On board the Titania, £500 donated by the Admiralty and Airy gave £ 300 for the honeymoon in Tenerife! Patrons: The Royal Society The Royal Astronomical Society The British Association Sir John Herschel
Telescopes, chronometers, actinometers, Stephenson Airy barometers, etc.
Southampton Hall on 24 June and on 8 July, 1856, he arrives at the coast of Santa Cruz with his wife, Jessie Duncan. ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 On 10 July they arrive at Puerto de la Cruz On 14 July he begins his ascent of Mount Teide
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 @George Eastman House, Rochester, NY.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 Pico Teide Montes Tenerife
In hommage to Piazzi Smyth, Teide and the Montes Teneriffe have been commemmorated on the Moon since the XIX century.
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 Foto NASA In memory of JESSIE PIAZZI SMYTH Daughter of Thomas Duncan, the dear wife of Charles Piazzi Smyth LL.D. Ed. late Astronomer Royal for Scotla nd who was his faithful and sympathetic friend and companion through 40 years of varying scientific experiences by land and sea abroad as well as at home at 12000 feet u p in the atmosphere on the wind swept Peak of Teneriffe as well as underneath a nd upon the GREAT PYRAMID OF EGYPT Until she fell asleep in the LORD JESUS CHRIST ESAC -Madrid At4th JuneClova 2009 Ripon on the 24th day of March 1896 aged 80. XXIXXI CenturyCentury
According to the International Astronomical Union (2003) 12% of astronomers are women.
•Maximum in Argentina, 35% •UNAM, 21% •Spain 30% •Germany and The Netherlands <10%
Spain: IAC 43% of doctoral students are women, but only 22% of the research staff are women. IAA 25% are women.
Physical Sciences and Technology 20%
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 AA finalfinal wordword
JocelynJocelyn BellBell --BurnellBurnell ((ScienceScience 304,304, p.489,p.489, 2004)2004)
““WomenWomen andand minoritiesminorities shouldshould notnot trytry toto adaptadapt .. ItIt ’’ss timetime thatthat societysociety movilizedmovilized towardstowards womenwomen ,, andand notnot womenwomen towardstowards societysociety ..””
MariaMaria MitchelMitchel
““StudyStudy asas ifif youyou werewere goinggoing toto livelive foreverforever ;; livelive asas ifif youyou werewere goinggoing toto diedie tomorrowtomorrow .. ""
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009 ThankThank youyou forfor listeninglistening !!
http://wia2009.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
ESAC -Madrid 4th June 2009