History of Astronomy – A History of Women in Astronomy, by Mary McIntyre

Historically, astronomy has been very male-dominated. Throughout history there have been a number of trail-blazing women, such as Caroline Herschel, who worked to change that. Caroline is often referred to as the first female astronomer, but this this isn’t correct. She was the first female ever to be paid for working in science and that paved the way for many other women to follow suit. However, there were countless less well-known women who were working as astronomers long before Caroline – in fact they can be traced right back to Sumerian culture – they just did it unpaid!

This talk is a celebration of the women who worked in astronomy during different periods of history, and the challenges they faced. For example, how they gained knowledge when women were not allowed to study at university, and in fact were even forbidden from using libraries. Importantly it looks at how women’s…