Name: Meet Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who figured out what the universe is made of
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Meet Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who figured out what the universe is made of

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"I spring quite literally from a pagan background."There is only one person capable of introducing themselves that way in their own : Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most original scientists to ever live. She was the first to determine that the stars were made of hydrogen and helium. In doing so, as a young graduate student, she bucked contemporary scientific theory. Prevented by sexism from being awarded her degree, and then a professorship, she eventually became the woman to chair a department at Harvard University.Cecilia Payne knew she wanted to be a scientist early on. As an eight year old, she recognized a bee orchid from her mother’s about the Italian Riviera. She later that moment saying, “For the first time I knew the leaping of the heart, the sudden enlightenment, that were to become my passion.” The rush of excitement that comes when the final puzzle piece fits into place, of seeing theory confirmed by practice, is something many scientists can identify.“I think my life as a scientist began at that moment”She attended a private school, run by Miss Elizabeth Edwards, and her time there with providing her a rich education. But even with the best teachers, school in early 1900s England wasn’t exactly a nursery for open-mindedness or the pursuit of knowledge. Left-handed students like Cecilia were forced to use their right hand, a process she found difficult and . As was the case with many schools at the time, religious trappings also meant that long hours were dedicated to and prayer.When it came time for college, Payne settled on astronomy after between botany and physics, and credited another teacher, the astrophysicist&nbsp;Arthur Eddington, for putting her on the path of stars. In her year at Cambridge, she attended a transformative lecture by Eddington about his expedition to test Einstein’s general theory of relativity by observing the stars near a solar eclipse.She the power of that lecture: “My world has been so shaken that I experienced something very like a nervous breakdown.” Payne her first academic paper with Eddington as an undergraduate student, and even late in life him “the greatest man I have been privileged to know.”...her work was “undoubtedly the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy"Studying physics at Cambridge in 1920s was a lonely prospect for a woman. Payne sat alone, since she was not to occupy the same rows of seats as her male classmates. Though Payne all the requirements for a degree in 1923, women were only granted "certificates" at Cambridge 1948.Such restrictive, sexist polices stifled any hope of a research career in the UK, so Payne moved to the United States. At the time, there was no graduate astronomy program at Harvard Observatory. For Payne, the intellectual stimulation and comparative freedom at Harvard was . She threw herself into her work, long days and nights at the Observatory.The work paid off, and in 1925 Payne became the first person to a PhD in astronomy from Harvard University, advised by with , the head of the Observatory. In her , she inferred the cosmic abundance of the elements from , the range of radiation emitted by stars.Her results showed that helium and especially hydrogen were by far the most common elements in stars, and hence in the universe. It was a view that the scientific consensus of the time, which was that the Sun, a star, and the Earth, a rocky planet, would provide similar spectra if measured at the same temperature.Astronomer , director of Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, that her work was “undoubtedly the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy." A number of prominent astronomers of the day, including , director of the Princeton University Observatory, her work as impossible. But even her staunchest critics relented after independent observations later proved that she was correct. Payne’s findings are now central to any introductory astronomy course, where students that the Milky Way Galaxy is composed of ~73% hydrogen, 25% helium, and 2% other elements.After her PhD, Payne took on a slew of less prestigious, low-paid research , as women were not permitted to enter the Harvard academy at the time. She met her husband, Sergei Gaposchkin, during a to the Astronomische Gesellschaft meeting in Gottingen in 1933. The marriage spanned four decades, producing three children and stacks of manuscripts and books about the cosmos. Eventually, in 1956, Payne-Gaposchkin became the first female professor in her faculty, and the first woman to become department chair at Harvard."Do not undertake a scientific career in quest of fame or money"In 1976, the American Astronomical Society her their highest honor, the Henry Norris Russell Prize (named after the same Henry Norris that once criticized her PhD work), in recognition of a lifetime of excellence in astronomical research. In her acceptance speech, Payne-Gaposchkin on the thrill of discovery that she’d chased ever since she’d recognized that orchid as a little girl, saying “The reward of the young scientist is the emotional thrill of being the first person in the history of the world to see something or to understand something. Nothing can compare with that experience.”Payne-Gaposchkin died in Cambridge in 1979. Near the end of her life, she “Young people, especially young women, often ask me for advice. Here it is, valeat quantum. Do not undertake a scientific career in quest of fame or money. There are easier and better ways to reach them. Undertake it only if nothing else will satisfy you; for nothing else is probably what you will receive. Your reward will be the widening of the horizon as you climb. And if you achieve that reward you will ask no other.”The newly discovered brown dwarf is the first of its kindWhen astronomers observed Betelguese last year, they saw it as far fainter than it should have beenDiscover new heroic women in STEM every weekEach week, we'll send you the story of a pioneering woman in STEM. From ancient scholars, to women's rights activists, to current researchers, there are so many fascinating scientists you may not have heard of.✕ Dismiss✕ Not Interested✓ Already Subscribed

"I spring quite literally from a pagan background."There is only one person capable of introducing themselves that way in their own : Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most original scientists to ever live. She was the first to determine that the stars were made of hydrogen and helium. In doing so, as a young graduate student, she bucked contemporary scientific theory. Prevented by sexism from being awarded her degree, and then a professorship, she eventually became the woman to chair a department at Harvard University.Cecilia Payne knew she wanted to be a scientist early on. As an eight...

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Meet Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who figured out what the universe is made of

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