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Women in astronomy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Months ago I was asked to write an article on a female figure, an astronomer from the past, from my books. This is what I wrote, here is the article in Italian, but the English version is also worthwhile.
Happy reading!
There was a time when the power of knowledge, particularly in astronomy, was concentrated in the hands of a few. This knowledge slowly began to spread to private observatories at the end of the 17th century, before being institutionalized by academies and universities.
In this context, women’s roles were doubly tied to the domestic sphere, where men engaged in astronomy often educated their wives or daughters as assistants. In some cases, these women achieved remarkable personal results despite their forced secondary role.
The most famous and emblematic example is Caroline Herschel, sister of the renowned discoverer of the planet Uranus, William. Her case was not isolated. In this particular context, both observational astronomers and artists emerged in Italy and abroad, in an era before the invention of photography.
Credit Magellan Team (NASA — Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
