Astronomy is apparently a man’s world. Those asked to name great astronomers would undoubtedly name several men, but would have difficulty naming a single woman astronomer. There have been many female astronomers who contributed to astronomical knowledge and method, but like women in other fields, they are invisible. Many people can name William Herschel as an astronomer, but his sister Caroline’s contribution to astronomy was just as great. The remarkable women astronomers who worked so hard, despite, in some cases, the restraints and prejudices of their societies, deserve recognition. Throughout history, women astronomers contributed much knowledge to astronomy which historians did not record or wrongly attributed.
Hypatia was born in the fourth century AD, in Alexandria. She was an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. Her mathematician father gave Hypatia an excellent education in mathematics, languages, rhetoric and science, giving her the tools to become a remarkable woman. She wrote scholarly astronomical and mathematical studies, which are now lost, and built and improved astronomical instruments. Hypatia taught at the Library of Alexandria, a quite astonishing thing to do for an upper class woman, when most lived secluded lives solely concerned with husbands and children. She designed an astrolabe, to measure the stars’ positions. Astrolabes allowed sailors to find stars and navigate, according to their positions in the sky. Then, using this instrument, she calculated star positions and published tables, which sailors and astronomers used until the 17th century.
Fatima of Madrid (or Cordoba) worked with her astronomer father, Maslama al-Mayriti, in the 10th century AD on astronomical and mathematical investigations, and on editing and correcting “The Astronomical Tables of al-Khwarizmi,” adjusting them to the meridian on which Cordoba stood, and on calendars, and positional calculations for the solar system and planets within. She also wrote several of her own works “The Corrections of Fatima.” None of the many Internet references to Fatima’s father mentions Fatima’s contribution to his work, and information on Fatima and her work is very scarce.
There were female astronomers throughout history. Maria Winckelmann-Kirch (1670-1720) grew up in a time when most families believed that girls need only learn reading, writing, counting, dancing, singing and household management. Maria’s father and uncle were unusual in believing that Maria deserved as good an education as a boy. She studied with Christopher Arnold, a renowned astronomer. She married another astronomer, Gottfried Kirsch. The couple worked together in astronomy and meteorology, producing calendars, almanacs and calculations for navigation purposes. Others viewed her as Gottfried’s assistant, rather than accepting Gottfried and Maria as a team.
In 1702, Maria discovered a comet (C/1702H1), which Gottfried confirmed but did not discover. He took credit for her discovery and published it under his name. Although many have speculated as to why he did so, the only existing German science journal at the time would not have published a woman’s work. Science names comets after their discoverers. Gottfried revealed that Maria had actually discovered the comet, only in 1712. Despite Gottfried’s revelation, the comet’s name remains, although Maria was the first known female astronomer to discover a comet.
She went on with her astronomical work, notably publishing her observations on the Aurora Borealis, the scientific name for the Northern Lights (1707), the conjunctions between the sun, Saturn and Venus (1709) and the approaching conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn (1712). These observations, together with her comet discovery, are her lasting contributions to astronomy. Although Maria continued to work in astronomy, male astronomers treated her very badly after her husband died; perhaps her great achievements made them feel insecure. Maria and Gottfried’s three daughters and one son all worked in Astronomy. Their son, Christfried, became the director of the Berlin Observatory of the Royal Academy of Sciences.
Caroline Herschel’s (1750-1848) contributions to astronomy were huge, but her brother’s achievements are remembered in preference to hers. Although born in Hanover, Germany, William and Caroline moved to England in 1772. She kept house for her brother in the beginning of their stay in England, later becoming his assistant. Her work was writing down his observations. However, William made her a telescope and she was soon making her own observations and discoveries.
Apart from other findings, she discovered eight comets between 1786 and 1797. William put many of her discoveries in his catalogue, and William and Caroline jointly discovered Uranus; he always properly attributed Caroline’s work. George III recognized Caroline’s astronomical work, when he awarded her a fifty pounds annual stipend, making her the first English woman with a paid government appointment. Caroline returned to Germany on William’s death in 1822. The king of Prussia recognized her astronomical work in 1847. She truly was a great astronomer and William, her brother, and other influential people recognized her as such in her own time.
Paris Pismis (1911-1999) was another great female astronomer. Born in Turkey with Armenian ancestry, she was the first woman to attend university in Turkey, gaining a degree in mathematics in 1937. She worked at the Harvard Observatory before moving to Mexico, becoming Mexico’s first professional astronomer, in 1942. She worked at the Tacubaya National Astronomical Observatory, part of Mexico’s national university. She taught the first official astronomy classes in Mexico. She discovered 20 open clusters and 3 globular clusters, and worked on the initial explanations of spiral galaxies, publishing over 100 science papers. From being the only professional astronomer in Mexico in 1942, when Paris died in 1999, she left a flourishing astronomical department at Mexico’s national university.
Great women astronomers are not only in the past. Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock was born in Britain, of Nigerian immigrant parents, in 1968. A children’s television programme, “The Clangers,” about a family of knitted alien creatures living on a Luna-like planet, kindled Maggie’s early fascination with the moon. A book cover showing an astronaut floating in space drove her desire to learn more about space and the universe.
As a teenager, Maggie made her own telescope to study the stars. She fought dyslexia to become an accomplished British rocket scientist and astronomer. She built items for the Gemini telescope and builds orbiting satellites. Maggie’s scientific work informs her work as a science communicator. She works tirelessly to communicate astronomy, through television and radio programmes, presenting and explaining astronomy, space science and physics to ordinary people in an entertaining and interesting way. She also works in schools, encouraging young people, especially girls, to consider scientific careers. As Maggie says, her story proves that you do not need a brain the size of a small planet to enjoy science or choose a scientific career. It also proves that not all scientists are rich, male and white.
The male scientific establishment often ignored or belittled women astronomers. In the recent past, girls studied biology, if they studied any science at all at school; only boys studied physics. However, despite problems and setbacks women astronomers overcame obstacles and made huge contributions to astronomy and wider scientific knowledge. There are still not as many female astronomers as there are male, but talented astronomers, whether male or female, can rise to the very top of their profession. Today’s aspiring female astronomers truly stand on the shoulders of great women astronomers.
