Despite her pioneering contributions to science, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin has not always been recognized as one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. In What Stars Are Made Of, Donovan Moore sets out to change this, with the first full biography of this trailblazing scientist. To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are pleased to highlight five key facts from Cecilia’s life that show what an important scientist, and woman, she was:
1. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin made a revolutionary discovery in the field of astronomy: in 1925, she correctly predicted the atomic composition of stars. Cecilia’s work demonstrated that the stars are composed almost exclusively from hydrogen and helium, a finding that was contrary to the prevailing view at the time.
2. Despite this major breakthrough, her work wasn’t accepted by her male colleagues. When her dissertation was viewed, fellow astronomer Henry Norris Russell attempted to persuade her that stars had the same atomic composition as earth. However, four years later Henry reached the same conclusion as Cecilia, although he gave her little credit for it.
3. As a woman of many firsts, Cecilia was the first woman to receive a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe College, the first female promoted to full professor from within Harvard, and the first woman to head a department at Harvard University.
4. Cecilia had to fight against the entrenched sexism of the academic world. In 1928, Abbot Lawrence Lowell, the Harvard President, had decreed that no woman should be granted a teaching appointment at Harvard. As noted above, her teaching efforts were eventually recognized. Today Cecilia’s portrait hangs in University Hall at Harvard, about 30 feet away from Lowell’s own.
5. Cecilia was inspired to become a scientist after listening to lectures by Sir Arthur Eddington, who correctly confirmed Einstein’s theory of relativity. By forging a path for female scientists in a male-dominated community, Cecilia inspired generations of women to pursue a career in science. In the foreword of What Stars Are Made Of, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell explains what Cecilia’s work means to her, echoing so many of us, with this ringing endorsement, “What an adventurous and courageous woman!”
