The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-06
WOMEN SCIENTISTS .:. WHO STUDY STARS
THEY HAVE THE IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES fEARS-AsTR0NOMY' OFFERS
 A PROFEssION-RADCLIFFEgs WORK THE 5s HARVARD OBSERVATORY
THEY HAVE

| Cambridge, Mass, Nov. 5. 1904.- There Is soon to be published in the annals of the Harvard Observatory a bibiiography of variable stars which l is one of the biggest single pieces of work of its kind that has been at tempted in astronomy in several years. Perhaps the most striking thing about 1t to the 1ayman. however. is that the work of compilation has been done by a woman, though as a matter of fact astronomy of all the sciences seems most to appeal to women students and offers them the best opportunities as a life occupation. Much of the inves- tigation to which the Harvard Obser- vatory devotes Q good share of its at- ltention Is regularly done by women I and many Of the important astronomi lcal discoveries of the last quarter of A century, both here and abroad. have been made by women. ..- ..... F A branch of the study of heavenly bodies in which special progress has been made in the last decade Is that devoted particularly to variable stars those curious objects in the firma- ment whose presence, even. was un- suspected for hundreds of years. In- deed, acquaintance with these inter- | esting bodies may be said to have hardly begun until the adaptation of the camera in combination with the telescope made 1t possible to study at leisure, and by exact measurements and comparative examination. their variations. the intensity of their light, the character of their component ele- ments and other details of their being. Stellar photography, as 1t Is called. has been brought to its highest develop ment by the Harvard Observatory, where 1t originated; more than a hun dred and fifty thousand negatives have been made here and at the southern station in Peru, and every night new plates are added to the collection. For the minute examination of these plates which form the standard reference H. brary of the astronomical world work requiring infinite care, patience and exactness-the services of women have been found of peculiar value.
 The Observatory's entire collection of star pictures is in charge of Mrs Williamina Patton Fleming. who Is credited with more discoveries of "novas" than any other one astron- omer has made In the past dozen years She has a corps of fifteen women as assistants, among them Miss Henri- etta s. Leayitt, the discoverer of a new Algol variable in the region of Sagittarius. last month, whose -investi-
 
 ially notable. and Miss Annie J. Can- non. the compiler of the bibliography Ialready referred to, who is making important researches Into what may be called the composition of stars as it is told by their photographic spectra Miss Leavltt and Miss Cannon began their astronomical work as students at Radcliffe College, where the sci ence has always been a popular one, 19 ing lectures but as a branch of schol- arship to be developed into life work. Three other former students at the "Woman's Harvard" already hold im- portant positions in American obser- vatories: Professor Mary Whitney, director of the observatory at Vassar, Professor Mary E. Byrd. who holds a similar position at Smith College and Miss Charlotte R. Willard, the chief assistant of Professor Payne in the Goodsell Observatory at Carleton Col lege, Northfeld. Minn.
 Rather curiously Radcliffe-or, as 1t was then familiarity called The An nex"-ofrered its students practical training in astronomy before Harvard did. Through its connection with the mems university the woman's college had at Its disposal for students who devoted themselves to research work the Splenuld equipment Of the big ob- servatory. Director E. c. Pickering has had this part of the Radcliffe curricu- lum under his supervision from the beginning and the instruction is given by members of his staff. The facilities being exceptional, perhaps more of the girls here have carried their study of astronomy through to the point of a lire-long profession than in most wo- mems colleges, but there has always been, in the dozen years since the sci ence was introduced among the cleo tiVes' strong interest in the subject as a part of a well-rounded education. Astronomy has two forms, from the teaching standpoint: descriptive and spherical astrohomy. whioG involves no intricate mathematical calculations and requires no skilled use of big tel escapes or other instruments of obser- vation, and instrumental astronomy. Descriptive astronomy might be called the geography of the heavens. for 1t takes up the identification of the ce- lestial bodies and their location, their movements and the physical eharae-