Author |
Gunderson, Lauren |
Year |
2015 |
First published |
2015 |
Publisher |
: Dramatists Play Service |
Number of pages |
63 |
ISBN |
9780822233800 |
Keywords |
astronomy, religion vs science, women in science, wonder, awe, beauty (and science), historical, female scientist, USA or Canada |
Abstract
This play is set around the life of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, a famous female American
astronomer who worked on luminosity and Cepheid variables. It follows Henrietta from
her last days at her father’s home until she starts working as a “computer” at the
Harvard Observatory, where she, as a woman, is not allowed to use the telescope but
rather works as an assitant to her male colleagues. Her fellow female “computers”,
among them Annie Jump Cannon, support her in her own studies. It is her who makes
the connection between the periods of Cepheid varibales and their brightness. (FmS)