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Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: An Autobiography and Other Recollections
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin became acclaimed in her lifetime as the greatest woman astronomer of all time. Her own story of her professional life, work and scientific achievements is augmented by the personal recollections of her daughter, Katherine Haramundanis, as well as a scientific appreciation by Jesse Greenstein, a historical essay by Peggy Kidwell, and in this new edi
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Paperback
,
300 pages
Published
July 1st 1996
by Cambridge University Press
(first published March 1st 1984)
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Community Reviews
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Why don't you know this woman's name? This remarkable British/American woman, who died in 1979, was one of the foremost physicists of the Twentieth century, the first to recognize the chemical make-up of the sun, a discovery that instantly put many of the then-accepted notions of the universe itself into question. The eminent physicists she worked with at the Harvard Observatory--all men, needless to say--pooh-poohed her conclusions, and when her discoveries did come to prominence, it was her bo
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It's a shame this is the only book written about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, because she was an incredibly talented and accomplished scientist. But at least it's definitive -- most of the book is her own autobiographical writings. Not to mention the fact she had to do it herself, which seems to have been a recurring theme in Payne-Gaposchkin's life. Vital reading for anyone interested in the issues women face in STEM (because not a whole lot's changed), or just in getting to know one of the greate
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Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is the first human ever to realize that the universe was largely made up of hydrogen, a result that was contained in "the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy." Oh, and she happened to be a woman which made it difficult for her to obtain the kind of positions that her less talented male colleagues did. This is a fascinating book about one of the most important astronomers of the 20th century.
This was a very interesting book, particularly after reading the Maria Mitchell biography with its commentary on the evolution of the whole "women in science" question. I decided to skip the introductions, however, as I was finding them to be rather (unintentionally) sexist at times. I'd much rather hear from Cecilia herself.
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