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Mitchell, Maria, 1818-1889We have 1 book for this author.
 Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer. Early yearsMaria (proncounced Ma-RYE-ah) Mitchell was August 11, 1818, in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and was a first cousin four times removed of Benjamin Franklin. She had nine brothers and sisters. Her parents, William Mitchell and Lydia Coleman Mitchell, were Quakers who, unconventionally for their time, insisted on giving her the same quality of education that boys received. She was taught for a time by her father in the school he ran. That closed when she was fourteen and she then attended Unitarian minister Cyrus Peirce's school for young ladies. Later she worked for Peirce as his teaching assistant before she opened her own school in 1835. When that closed in 1836, she worked as a librarian and also pursued astronomy at her father's observatory. Her father taught her himself about astronomy and navigation.[1] Comet discoveryUsing a telescope, she discovered "Miss Mitchell's Comet" (Comet 1847 VI, modern designation is C/1847 T1) in the autumn of 1847. Some years previously, King Frederick VI of Denmark had established gold medal prizes to each discoverer of a "telescopic comet" (too faint to be seen with the naked eye). The prize was to be awarded to the "first discoverer" of each such comet (note that comets are often independently discovered by more than one person). She duly won one of these prizes, and this gave her worldwide fame, since the only previous woman to discover a comet had been Caroline Herschel. There was a temporary question of priority because Francesco de Vico had independently discovered the same comet two days later, but had reported it first; however, this was resolved in Mitchell's favor. The prize was awarded in 1848 by the new king Frederick VII. Note: some biographical sources misinterpret the words "first discoverer of a telescopic comet" and report that she was the first person in history to discover a comet using a telescope. That is not the case. She was the first professional woman astronomer in the United States, noted for her discovery that sunspots are whirling vertical cavities and not, as previously thought, clouds. CareerShe became the first woman member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1848 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1850. She later worked at the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, calculating tables of positions of Venus, and traveled in Europe with Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family. She became professor of astronomy at Vassar College in 1865, the first person (male or female) appointed to the faculty. She was also named as Director of the Vassar College Observatory. After teaching there for some time, she learned that despite her reputation and experience, her salary was less than that of many younger male professors. She insisted on a salary increase, and got it. EffortsIn 1842, she left the Quaker faith and followed Unitarian principles. In protest against slavery, she stopped wearing clothes made of cotton. She was friends with various suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and co-founded the American Association for the Advancement of Women. LegacyShe died in June 28, 1889, at the age of 71, in Lynn, Massachusetts. She was buried in Lot 411, Prospect Hill Cemetery, Nantucket.[2] The Maria Mitchell Observatory in Nantucket is named in her honor. She was also posthumously inducted into the U.S. National Women's Hall of Fame. She was the namesake of a World War II Liberty ship, the SS Maria Mitchell. Mitchell crater on the moon is named for her. In 1902, the Maria Mitchell Association was founded in her memory.[3] ReferencesOnline sources
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This biographical information was gathered from the Maria_Mitchell page, courtesy of the Wikipedia project. BooksMaria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals |
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