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Women in Astronomy: An Introductory Resource Guide to Materials in English

3. Material on Some Specific Women Astronomers of the Past

Cannon, Annie (1863-1941)

Armstrong, Mabel Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. 2008, Stone Pine Press. This book for teens has a chapter on Cannon.

Bok, Priscilla "Annie Jump Cannon 1863-1941" in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, June 1941, vol. 53, p. 168.

Camp, Carole American Astronomers: Searchers and Wonderers. 1996, Enslow. One chapter of this book for teen readers is devoted to Canon's life and work.

Emberlin, D. Science: Contributions of Women. 1977, Dillon Press. Includes a section on Cannon, pp. 7-27.

Greenstein, George "The Ladies of Observatory Hill" in American Scholar, Feb. 1993, p. 437. (Reprinted in his book Portraits of Discovery, 1998, John Wiley.)

Hearnshaw, John The Analysis of Starlight. 1986, Cambridge U. Press. See Chapter 5.

Jones, Bessie & Boyd, Lyle The Harvard College Observatory (1839-1919). 1971, Harvard U. Press. See especially Chapter 11.

Kidwell, P. "Three Women of American Astronomy" in American Scientist, May/June 1990, p. 244.

Merrill, P. "Annie Jump Cannon" in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 102, no. 2, p. 74 (1942).

Welther, Barbara "Annie J. Cannon: Classifier of the Stars" in Mercury (the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Jan/Feb. 1984, p. 28.

Web Sites:

Annie Cannon Pages at Wellesley College:
http://www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy/Annie/
Part of a student project, but with good local historical information.

Brief Biography at ScienceWomen Site:
http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/cannon.html

Brief Biography from the ASP's Women in Astronomy Slide Set:
http://astro.berkeley.edu/%7Egmarcy/women/cannon.html

Video about Cannon's life and work:
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~alexg/ajc.html

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Clerke, Agnes (1842-1907)

Bruck, M. "Agnes Mary Clerke: Chronicler of Astronomy" in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, Mar. 1994, p. 59. Lengthy profile.

Bruck, Mary Agnes Mary Clerke & the Rise of Astrophysics. 2002, Cambridge U. Press.

Cliver, Edward "Agnes Mary Clerke: Real Time Historian of Astronomy" in Astronomy & Geophysics (the magazine of the Royal Astronomical Society), June 2007, vol. 48, p. 3.25.

Lightman, B. "Constructing Victorian Heavens: Agnes Clerke and the "New Astronomy" in Natural Eloquence: Women Reinscribe Science. Barbara T. Gates, Barbara & Shteir, Ann, eds. 1997, U. of Wisconsin Press.

McKenna-Lawlor, Susan Whatever Shines Should be Observed. 2003, Springer. The story of five 19th century women who made contributions to astronomy and science, including Clerke.

Weitzenhoffer, Kenneth "The Prolific Pen of Agnes Clerke" in Sky & Telescope, Sep. 1985, p. 211.

Web Sites:

Brief Biography from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04051b.htm

Brief Biography at Ask about Ireland:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/show_narrative_page_by_place.do?page_id=6864

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Courtesy Curator of Astronomical Photographs at Harvard College Observatory

Fleming, Williamina (1857-1911)

Armstrong, Mabel Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. 2008, Stone Pine Press. This book for teens has a chapter on Fleming.

Camp, Carole American Astronomers: Searchers and Wonderers. 1996, Enslow. One chapter of this book for teen readers is devoted to Fleming's life and work.

Jones, Bessie & Boyd, Lyle The Harvard College Observatory (1839-1919). 1971, Harvard U. Press. See several sections of this history for her contributions.

Spradley, J. "The Industrious Mrs. Fleming" in Astronomy, July 1990, p. 48.

Spradley, J. "Two Centennials of Star Catalogs Compiled by Women" in Astronomy Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3, p. 177 (1990).

Web Sites:

Brief biography at about.com:
http://space.about.com/od/astronomerbiographies/a/wflemingbio.htm

Brief biography at Harvard Women Working site:
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_fleming.html

Brief biography at Woman Astronomer site:
http://www.womanastronomer.com/wfleming.htm

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Herschel, Caroline (1750-1848)

Alic, Margaret Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science. 1986, Beacon Press. Chapter 9 has a good section on Herschel's work.

Armstrong, Mabel Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. 2008, Stone Pine Press. This book for teens has a chapter on Herschel.

Belkora, Leila Minding the Heavens: The Story of Our Discovery of the Milky Way. 2003, IOP Publishing. Chapter 4 is about the Herschels.

Brock, Claire The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Herschel's Astronomical Ambition. 2008, Totem Books. A popular-level biography. A radio program interviewing the author can be found at the end of the web sites below.

Higgins, F. Sweeper of the Skies: Caroline Herschel. 1967, Follett. For young people.

Hoskin, Michael "Astronomy's Matriarch" in Sky &Telescope, May 2005, p. 42-46.

Hoskin, Michael, ed. Caroline Herschel's Autobiographies. 2003, Science History Publications. Annotated versions of the autobiographies she wrote in her 70's and 90's.

Hughes, D. "Caroline Herschel: Comet Huntress" in Journal of the British Astronomical Association, Apr. 1999, vol. 109, p. 78.

Lubbock, C. The Herschel Chronicle. 1933, Cambridge U. Press. Family chronicle of William and Caroline, by his grand-daughter.

Ogilvie, M. "Caroline Herschel's Contributions to Astronomy" in Annals of Science, vol. 32, p. 149 (1975).

Web Sites:

Biography at MacTutor Site:
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html

Brief biography at FemBio:
http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/caroline-herschel

Brief biography at Cometography site:
http://cometography.com/biographies/herschelc.html

Maria Mitchell's Reminiscences about Caroline Herschel from 1889:
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_mitchell_herschel.htm

Brief Biography from the ASP's Women in Astronomy Slide Set:
http://astro.berkeley.edu/~gmarcy/women/herschel.html

Brief Biography at the Space Telescope Science Institute:
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup
/lesson/bios/herschel/index.php

Flanders, Tony "Following in Caroline Herschel's Footsteps" (a guide to re-observing some of the objects she saw, for amateurs):
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/Caroline_Herschel_Objects.html

March 2007 BBC radio program about her:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/03/2007_11_thu.shtml

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Hoffleit, Dorrit (1907 - 2007)

Hoffleit, Dorrit "Some Glimpses from My Career" in Mercury (the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Jan/Feb. 1992, p. 16.

Hoffleit, Dorrit Misfortunes as Blessings in Disguise. 2002, American Association of Variable Star Observers. Her autobiography. See excerpts and purchasing information at: http://www.aavso.org/store/st_dorrit.shtml

Levy, David "Astronomy's First Lady" in Sky & Telescope, Feb. 1999, p. 89.

Philip, A.G. D., et al, eds. Anni Mirabiles: A Symposium Celebrating the 90th Birthday of Dorrit Hoffleit. 1999, L. Davis Press.

Web Sites:

Brief Biography at AAVSO site:
http://www.aavso.org/aavso/membership/dhoffleit.shtml

Obituary by Virginia Trimble:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007BAAS...39.1067T

July 2006 Interview with Pamela Gay (video):
http://www.starstryder.com/2007/04/11/dorrit-hoffleit-1907-2007/

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Copyright David Dunlap Observatory University of Toronto

Hogg, Helen Sawyer (1905-1993)

Armstrong, Mabel Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. 2008, Stone Pine Press. This book for teens has a chapter on Hogg.

Morrison, David & Fraknoi, Andrew "1983 ASP Award Winners: Klumpke Roberts Award to Helen Sawyer Hogg" in Mercury (the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Nov/Dec. 1983, p. 185.

Webb, M. Helen Sawyer Hogg: A Lifetime of Stargazing. 1991, Copp Clark Pitman (Toronto).

Yost, E. Women of Modern Science. 1959, Greenwood Press. Pp. 31-47 are on Helen Hogg.

Web Sites:

Obituary from the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of the Canada:
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/hsh/hshrasc.html

Obituary from the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific:
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/hsh/hshpasp.html

Brief Biography at Science Women Site:
http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/hogg.html

Her career highlights summary at U. of Toronto:
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/hsh/hshhigh.html

Talk about her by Tom Bolton:
http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/hsh/hshbln.html

Brief Biography at Canada Under the Stars:
http://astro-canada.ca/_en/a2206.html

Transcript of an Interview with David DeVorkin at the Center for the History of Physics:
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4679.html

Very brief autobiography at the Canada Science & Technology Museum:
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/about/hallfame/u_i33_e.cfm

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Huggins, Margaret (1848-1916)

Becker, Barbara "Dispelling the Myth of the Able Assistant: Margaret and William Huggins at Work in the Tulse Hill Observatory" in Helena Pycior, et al. eds., Creative Couples in the Sciences. 1996, Rutgers University Press.

Belkora, Leila Minding the Heavens: The Story of Our Discovery of the Milky Way. 2003, IOP Publishing. Chapter 6 is about the Hugginses.

Bruck, Mary Agnes Mary Clerke & the Rise of Astrophysics. 2002, Cambridge U. Press. See Chapter 5 and several other sections about Margaret Huggins' work and relationship with Clerke.

McKenna-Lawlor, Susan Whatever Shines Should be Observed. 2003, Springer. The story of five 19th century women who made contributions to astronomy and science, including Huggins.

Richardson, Robert "Lady Huggins" in The Star Lovers. 1967, Macmillan.

Web Sites:

Barbara Becker's article:
https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/ExploringtheCosmos/week7b.html

Joseph Tenn's Article on the Hugginses from The Griffith Observer:
http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Huggins/HugginsesDrapers.pdf

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Leavitt, Henrietta (1868-1921)

Armstrong, Mabel Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars. 2008, Stone Pine Press. This book for teens has a chapter on Leavitt.

Crowe, Michael Modern Theories of the Universe from Herschel to Hubble. 1994, Dover. See especially Chapter 6.

Ferguson, Kitty Measuring the Universe. 1999, Walker. Chronicle of how distances were found in the universe, with good discussions of contributions by individual astronomers.

Johnson, George Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. 2005, Atlas/Norton.

Jones, Bessie & Boyd, Lyle The Harvard College Observatory (1839-1919). 1971, Harvard U. Press. See Chapters 10 and 11.

Mitchell, H. "Henrietta Leavitt and the Cepheid Variables" in The Physics Teacher, Mar. 1976, vol. 14, p. 162.

Moore, Patrick Astronomers' Stars. 1987, Norton. Chapter 10 concerns Leavitt's work on Cepheids.

Richardson, Robert "Henrietta Leavitt" in The Star Lovers. 1967, Macmillan.

Singh, Simon Big Bang. 2004, Harper. Chapter 3 has a nice section on her life and work.

Web Sites:

Biography at AAVSO Site:
http://hoa.aavso.org/posterswan.htm

Brief Biography at PBS Science Odyssey:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baleav.html

Brief Biography at Woman Astronomer Site:
http://www.womanastronomer.com/hleavitt.htm

Brief Biography from the ASP's Women in Astronomy Slide Set:
http://astro.berkeley.edu/~gmarcy/women/leavitt.html

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