The Washington times., 1901-12-01
WOMEN ENGAGED
IN ASTRONOMY,
Good Work Done by Them Home
and Abroad.
PROGRESS IN THE SCIENCE.
Many Members of the Gentle Sex
Earn Regulations for Important
Computations and Observations
Their Field of Work.

The American woman has become a
decided factor i'll the study of astron-
omy. This fact is demonstrated by the
number of members of the gentler sex
| engaged in the astronomical depart
ments of the great American univer-
sites and employed as mathematicians
| in the Nautical Almanac Office in this
city.
Considerable interest in this subject
was aroused by the announcement a
few days ago that Miss Anna Winlock,
of the Harvard Observatory staff, had
collaborated with Simon Ncwcomb in
computing the orbit of newly found
asteroid.
Work of sophia Brake.
Among the first devotees of stellar
science after the revival of civilization
| In Europe four or five centuries ago
were Sophia Brahe G556-1643. Maria
| Cnuitz Q610-1664). and Elizabeth, second
wife of Hevelius. OF the first very
little is known beyond the circumstance
| that she was a sister of the great as
tronomber, Tycho Brahe. Cunitz, all
| though she married an amateur astron-
|
! from him, really exhibited much orig
inal mathematical talent She COM
puted tables. which were a simplifica-
| ton OF Kepler's. but inasmuch as she
| made no use of logarithms her task was
more difficult than it would have been
| otherwise. Havelius, a wealthy anna
teur, residing in Silesia, undertook
| series of observa tions for a new star
catalogue. His wife assisted him, and
of hi fta,- t.ss-
death. She named a constellation "the
Shield of Sobiesk, after a King of
Poland.
Three more modern, of not more con-
spicuous figures ir the realm of as
tronomy are Mary Somerville, Caro-
line Herschel and Maria Mitchell
Mary Somerville, whose maiden name
was Fairfax, and who was related to
George Washington mother, was born
in Scotland near the close of the year
1880. She was almost as versatile as
Hypatia. Her most famous work, per-
haps, was an adaptation of La Places
Celestial Mechanics to the cornpre-
hension of a large number of students.
1t was from the great Frenchman she
received the compliment that she was
the only woman who ever understood
him. John Couch Adams, one of the
discoverers of the planet Neptune. says
that he derived the hint which led to
his computations from reading Mary
Somerville's Connection of the Ply
steal Sciences"
Discovered Seven Comets.
Caroline Herschel Q750-1s4S) discov.
cred no less than seven comets and
published several catalogues of stars
and neblaae. Maria Mitchell was
native Of Nantucket, and while yet a
young woman became librarian of the
local Athenaeum. With a small tele-
scope. which had belonged to her faith
er, she scrutiniZed the skies for years.
In 1S45 she discovered a comet That
event led to many recognitions of her
skill from foreign as well as American
sources. The King of Denmark sent
her d medal. Her services as a COM
puter were sought at the Nautical AL
manac Office in Washington, and when
she went abroad she received attention
from Mary Somerville, George Eliot
and other women famous for intellec
tual endowments. In 1865 she became
professor of astronomy in Vassar Col
lege, a pest which she occupied until
age rendered resignation necessary. She
died in 1889.
The British Astronomical Assccia-
ton is made up largely of amateurs,
and its membership now includes a
number of women. The observations
made by some of the latter often APP
proach in value those of professional
astronomers. One of the best photo
graphs Of the total eclipse of the sun
taken in India two or three years ago
was secured by Mrs F. Walter Maun-
der. an amateur. The most prominent
women in the ranks OF English astron-
omers today, however, are Lady Hug
gins and Miss Agnes NJ. Clarke. The
former is the wife of the venerable
spectroscopist, Sir William Huggin-, !
and in all published reports of his re-
searches he shares the credit with Lady
Higgins. Miss Clarke, a native of Ire
land, and now nearly sixty years old |
was engaged in observational work at |
the Cape of Good Hope Observatory in |
1888. But she is chiefly known as a |
writer, and a charming writer. too. |
She has a wonderful faculty of digest |
ing the somewhat abstruse and techni- |
cal reports of original investigators and |
putting their pith in popular form.
A considerable number of American |
women have of late been led into OBJ |
servational and mathematical pursuits |
in connection with astronomy. One of |
them, Dorothea Klumpke, has been lent |
to France for more than a dozen years. !
She was born In California, and has |
two sisters, one of whom excels in art |
ana lne OlIeT III the pIdEllGe OF
cine. Miss klumpke has been connected |
with the observatory of Paris in one
capacity or another since 1887. The |
thesis which won her a doctorate was |
on the rings of Saturn. She is now at |
the head of bureau for measuring star |
plates for the new international chart |
of the heavens, and has five assistants |
of her own sex.
The only woman now on the Pacific |
Coast who is conspicuous for astronom-
ical work is Ro Sc O'Halloran, who came !
to this country from Tipperary. She |
supports herself by teaching, but has |
passion for stellar science. Reports of |
her observations often appear in as |
Economical magazines.
The Photographic Branch.
One of the most important branches |
of the work of the Harvard Observa-
tory is Photographic, and this in turn
subdivides itself into the registration |
of the stars proper and of their spec |
ira. The latter facilitates the classif-
cation of the stars according to their /
probable composition and temperature.
For the last three or four years Mrs.
Williamina Patton Fleming has been
"cruator of astronomical photographs
at Harvard and in her examination of |
some of the plates which come under
her eve she has discovered stars that
we're not known before. Mrs. Fleming |
is of Scotch birth; taught in Dundee
from 1871 to 1876, and has been attached
TO the Harvard staff since 1879.
Among her dozen assistants is niece
of the late Commander Aaury, in
charge of the Naval Observatory in
Washington from 1914 to 1861. Miss
taT