Article ID: CBB011712539

Temporary Measures: Women Computers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1890–1895 (2020)

unapi

Between 1890 and 1895, five women “computers” were hired to work at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, one of the world’s leading observatories at the time. Caroline Herschel notwithstanding, these women were the very first in Britain to be paid for astronomical observation. They were hired as supernumerary computers – normally a temporary position reserved for young schoolboys. Instead of adhering to the usual strict regimen of astronomical calculations, the women at Greenwich functioned much more as astronomers. They observed with telescopes, engaged in original research, and even published their findings. This paper examines how exactly this occurred at a time when women remained excluded from professional observation elsewhere. It engages original archival research in combination with the Greenwich published literature to shed light on a little-known story that reveals how women in Britain first came to be paid as professional astronomers.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB011712539/

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Authors & Contributors
McAleer, John
Hoskin, Michael A.
Sullivan, Kathryn D.
Gillin, Edward J.
Spiegel, Richard J.
Stuik, Remko
Concepts
Astronomy
Astronomical observatories
Telescopes
Scientific apparatus and instruments
Instruments, astronomical
Science and society
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
18th century
17th century
21st century
20th century, late
Places
Great Britain
Germany
Greenwich (England)
Melbourne (Victoria, Australia)
Lisbon (Portugal)
Kassel (Germany)
Institutions
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Pulkovo Observatory
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Osservatorio astronomico universitario di Bologna
Tartu Observatoorium
Radcliffe Observatory (University of Oxford)
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