The Greenwich Computers

At Greenwich and other observatories, ‘computers’ – the lowly collectors, processors and tabulators of data – were the unsung heroes of astronomy.  Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century they became ever more important to the Greenwich Observatory with the introduction of the Airy Transit Circle and the Observatory’s involvement in a range of initiatives such as the international project to map the skies (the Carte du Ciel) and solar observing.  For many decades the computers were local young men recruited by examination and paid a pittance.  But for a period of five years or so the observatory recruited highly qualified women as computers in a move which can be seen today either as a shocking example of exploitation or an attempt however imperfect, to bring women into the world of astronomy. 

Paul Wright will discuss the history of the Greenwich computers in the context of the wider…