Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-09


them. But YOU have to
hold ont"
The woman who has discovered sos stars In
the universe and inscribed her name upon
modern astronomy drops this little remark
about the weakness Of her sex.
For IS years Miss Annie G. Cannon Of the
department OF astronomy at Harvard has been
holding on. Holding on until, one by one the
men IN her field all over the world have put
down their telescopes to ask each other ques-
ti0ns about her. RoSsen, Jeans Eddington,
Stetson-the men who literally have blaxed
trails across the sky, have taken her to them
selves woman who patiently and tirelessly
has made q record Of more than q quarter OF
a million stars numbered them and placed
them-catalogued them. you might say, you
would your books your favorite recipes, not
as mysterious burning flames millions Of mil
lions Of miles away.
Few women have ventured seriously into that
overwhelming science that tells you that
primeval matter, Transforming itself during
millions and millions Of years produced the
tiny quantity Of inert ash that supports human
life and the eighteenth amendment and revofu-
ton IN Nicaragua For, however dramatic 1t
Is TO stand beside the illumined photographs
Of the universe you find in Miss Cannons laoo-
ratoTy, there is another story quite different
Of the ariucus nights and days the astronomer
finds necessary in studying the continuous
motion and changes of bodies
her labor no boredom In a life spent in those
intricate sciences that deal with liquids and
gases and electrons and the multitude Of infni-
tesimal items that make up an unthfnkable
universe.
DEFORE a diminutive Photographic plate net
- more than eight inches square she places
o chair for you, while she lets you take her
powerful little glass in your hand. There,
sharp under the tense of the glass; you glimpse
an expanSe of stars that the powerful tele-
SOopic camera has recorded for you; hundreds
Of them that only q great camera Of the skies
could find. and beside each of them q number
that represents their value and location.
From the North Pole to the South Pole
aGross distances almost unimagtnAble her
camera lens has gathered these variable stars,
SPLIT up their light with an objective prism and
by study Of the tiny lines you see criss-
cruising Them arrange them according to the
helium or hydrogen the various metals most
In evidence In them. AI4d such q grouping
has made available to astronomers throughout
the world an almost priceless fund Of informa-
ton
The eight-inch square Of glass has its drama
too Upon its tiny, disarming surface there Is
spread before you almost unthinkAble frAg-
meant of the universe. And the miracle Of II
al, Miss Cannon tells you. Is that you can
see 1t at all; that you can sit down for q mo-
ment and look out into the great universe of
matter In which man, as feeble Is he rs plays
the stellar role.
Miss Cannons ofacial title h curator of
astronomical photographs at Harvard ObServa-
tory. THIS observatory rs unique IN the world
containing los 100000 plates the history Of
the sky for IS years and furnishing material
for research for many years 30 come
with the exception, probably, Of Madame
Cure and one or two other conspicuous women
in modern science, Miss Cannon has received
nsOre hCnoFs from scientific bodies than any
other contemporary member Of her sex. The
Royal Astronomical Society Of London elected
her an honorary member IN 1914; the University