You Like Astronomy? But You’re a Girl!
I have loved astronomy and science all of my life. As a child, we had a set of Mitchell Beasley
encyclopaedias in the house; I think they were called “The Mitchell Beasley
World of Knowledge”. Before I could even read properly I had my nose in the
Science and the Universe book, desperate to know how many stars there were in
the sky, and to learn about other planets.
The artist’s impressions of the surfaces of other worlds captivated me.
The general knowledge book also had an astronomy section too and I spent hours
studying the star maps, trying to learn the patterns of the
constellations. One of my favourite
books at school was a Ladybird book about the constellations. In there it told
of the mythology behind the constellation names and I was fascinated by it. When
I was 7 I told all my classmates that I was going to Saturn for my summer
holiday and recently I found an old diary, where I written that my future
ambition was to go into space on a rocket (to visit Saturn!). I got my first
telescope for my 10 or 11th birthday. I don’t recall having specific lessons in
science at junior school but as soon as I had my first science lesson at high
school I just knew that I had to have a career in science. I switched around at first, wanting to be a
doctor, then a dentist, but once I hit 18 years old, I didn’t want to go to
university straight away; I just wanted to work in a lab. So I moved to London,
and got myself a job as a trainee technician in a Diabetes and Endocrinology
research lab. During my time there I worked my way up the ranks, whilst
studying at University part-time for my biological sciences degree. I loved learning. I constantly had my head in
my books and was like a sponge, absorbing as much information as I could. I ended up being awarded a First Class
Honours Degree when I’d finished my university course and I was so proud of my
achievements! At work, I loved the hands-on experience that working in a lab
brought. During those years I learned so many different laboratory techniques. I also had the opportunity to do my own
mini-research projects and I loved every second of it. A year after I had been awarded my degree, I
was looking for a new challenge. I wanted to stay and work towards a PhD but
was frustrated by the funding issues in academia so I moved away from research
and ended up working in scientific equipment sales. I loved the technical sales
most; learning the ins and outs of the more complex pieces of equipment, and
going and talking to the customers, who often assumed that I wouldn’t possibly
know the technical stuff with me being a girl, and even worse, being
blonde! Even when my spinal surgeries
put an end to that career, I got a job as a high school science technician.
This involved helping to set up all the science practical lessons and it was
great fun! I figured that if I could
help to inspire just one young person into a scientific career, then I would
have done a good job.
Throughout my life, my love of astronomy continued. It was
more of a part-time hobby for many years, due to work commitments, but once I
had the chance of studying for the Astronomy GCSE I became totally absorbed in
it again. It was during this course that I first started trying
astrophotography. Once I’d finished the GCSE, I knew I had to continue studying
so I’m currently working towards the Certificate in Astronomy and Planetary
Science via the Open University. It was
through this love of astronomy that I met my current partner, and soul mate,
Mark. Our first day together was at a NASA astronauts talk - how wonderfully
geeky, and so very us! I found out that
like me, Mark also had a life-long passion for astronomy, and we discovered
that we would be studying the same astronomy modules as part of our respective
Open University courses.
Just recently, people have started to ask me if I have got
into astronomy just because Mark likes it. This infuriates me! I find this question
offensive on many levels. Firstly, just
because I’m female it doesn’t mean I can’t love science and astronomy.
Secondly, just because I’m female it doesn’t mean that I can’t have hobbies of
my own; I don’t have to “mould” into something to fit what my boyfriend is
interested in. OK, I admit that it is very useful having a guy around to help me to lift my telescope outside on
the days I’m stuck in my wheelchair, and I often bounce ideas off him when
trying to improve my photography. But it
is the 21st Century; why does society as a whole still think that
science is a “boys” game? Only recently,
there was a big fuss in the press on the discovery that the extremely
successful “I F**king Love Science” Facebook page was run by a female, the
British blogger Elise Andrews. To read about some of the fall-out, take a look
at the Guardian’s and The Independent’s articles referenced at the end of this
post. 1& 2 I admire Elise, and the way she handled the fall
out. I have to admit that I myself was
guilty of assuming the page was run by a man, but wasn’t in the least bit
shocked or offended when I found out that it wasn’t; if anything I just felt admiration
for her. The page is wonderfully run, and every single post she makes is
utterly fascinating.
So why do some of us still act surprised when we encounter a
female who actually has something between her ears? A female who needs more
than soap operas and glossy magazines to make her tick? There is a long history of women in science,
yet when asked, very often the first and only female scientist people can name
is Marie Curie. She was certainly a formidable
and very inspirational lady, but she is not one of a kind. One of the first recorded female scientists
was actually Hypatia of Alexandria (370-415 - pre-dating Marie Curie by almost
1500 years!) She was a Roman Mathematician and Astronomer, and actually
invented some of her own scientific instruments. She died for her art; a new
leader was very unhappy about her teachings and had her murdered. All of her
writings and teachings were destroyed.
Another famous lady scientist who also pre-dated Marie Curie by a long
way was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She was a convent educated German lady
who was actually the first person to write about the benefits of boiling
drinking water for sanitation purposes. During the 19th Century
there were many more famous women scientists, and an even longer list covering
the 20th Century to present day. 3 I’m not going to list
every famous female scientist through the ages because it’s been done to death
already (I’ve posted some interesting links at the end if you want to read
more). On a personal level, I’ve met some incredible female scientists. One of
the most amazing people I’ve ever met was one of my supervisors when I worked
in the pituitary research group, Karen Akinsanya. She was incredibly
intelligent but so lovely and she patiently spent hours teaching me many lab
techniques and sharing her wealth of knowledge. She went on to have a very
successful career in the USA. At University I was really inspired by one of my molecular
biology lecturers, Dr. Pamela Greenwell.
If ever I was physically able to study a Masters Degree, it would in
molecular or cell biology - I am utterly fascinated by both!
In the field of astronomy, women were historically
encouraged to work within the field of solar observing. I heard a remarkable
quote about this during a talk at my local astronomical society, where it was
said that women should focus on solar work because going out at night into the
cold and dark would be detrimental to their delicate disposition! Luckily there have been many women of strong
enough dispositions over the years to fight back against this kind of
prejudice! As I’ve already mentioned,
Hypatia was a famous Astronomer during Roman times. There are many more; Antonia Maury, born in
1866 was responsible for some incredible work on stellar spectra, despite being
actively discouraged by her supervisor. There was Henrietta Swan Leavitt, born
in 1868. Not only did she devise a system for ascertaining the magnitude of
stars on photographic plates, she also studied Cepheid Variable stars, and made
the phenomenally important discovery that variable stars have a
period-luminosity ratio; this ratio allowed her to calculate the absolute
magnitude of stars for the first time. There
are many more. But one of the most inspiring stories of women in astronomy has
to be that of Caroline Herschel, brother of William Herschel. She was born in
1750, and had a number of childhood diseases which where to affect her in later
life. She was left scarred and disfigured by Smallpox and was very short in
stature due to Typhus. Her family wrote her off, told her she would never marry
and planned for to become their maid. Her brother William came to her
rescue. First of all, he taught her how
to sing, but more importantly, he took her on as his assistant when he began
working in astronomy. She flourished in this role and became the first woman to
discover a comet. She went on to discover more comets and nebulae, and have her
own star charts published. She is one of the few early women astronomers who
have had their lives very well documented.4
There is no doubt that is has been an uphill struggle for
women. The Royal Astronomical Society did not allow women as fellows until
1916. Around that time, women could study at university but were not allowed to
be awarded degrees. Any women who did manage to obtain professional employment
had to give up their job once they married. Luckily things have moved on! In the present day, one third of astronomy
PhD students are women, 28% of astronomy lecturers are women and 7% of
astronomy Professors are women. 5 Modern day female astronomers of
note include Dame Jocelyn Bell-Bernell , who was involved with the discovery of
pulsars, and Catherine Cesarsky who in 2006 became the first female president
of the International Astronomical Union. There has also been a notable increase
in the number of women presenting science documentaries, such as Lucie Green
and Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Surely it is time to move away from pre-historic
gender typing? Supermarkets still to
this day market science toys as “toys for boys”, claiming it is due to public
demand! This is something which has to
change.
Science and astronomy have become very popular subjects
recently. As geekiness has become sexy
there has certainly been an increase in fakery; there are people out there
(both male and female) who claim they are turned on by science, who tweet links
to articles they probably don’t even understand the title of, just because they
think it makes them appear more interesting or attractive. But there are many genuine female science and
astronomy fans out there. Modern
technology has made astronomy much more accessible to the general public, probably
more so than any other branch of science.
Amateur astronomers can work hand in hand with professionals, sharing
and analysing data from their own back garden. The success of Galaxy Zoo is a
great example; volunteers classifying galaxies from their arm-chairs. Many of
you will have heard of Hanny van Arkel and “Hanny’s Voorwerp”. Hanny is a Dutch Biology teacher, and she
discovered the unusual object in 2007. Since then she has become a minor
celebrity within astronomy circles! The internet also allows people to control
and take photos remotely using some of the world’s largest telescopes. Distance learning is also playing a vital role
in bringing astronomy to the masses. People can study any number of astronomy
or science qualifications part-time whilst still working, and once achieved,
these qualifications can open up a whole new career path for people. All of these things provide an awesome
opportunity for amateurs, but also could be really important for women who want
to have a career in science or astronomy but who may find it more difficult to
make an impact through the traditional channels.
It is true that many branches of science and astronomy are
still male dominated, but women are fighting back. I know I’ll never be a
professional, but I’m a girl, and I’m proud to love astronomy. To paraphrase
the late Ann Richards (Govenor of Texas) “A woman’s place in the dome” - in
this case, an astronomy dome!
References:
5. http://www.ras.org.uk/search/article-archive/2017-astronomy-and-geophysics-bring-women-into-science
For a more in-depth look at women in astronomy, please take
some time to read this fabulous article: http://academinist.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Woman_Place_Larsen.pdf
And for a female astronomer’s perspective on things, please
read this: http://spacemom.net/adventures/2008/03/19/a-womans-place-is-in-the-dome/
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