Edward Charles Pickering

[4] Immediately upon graduating from Harvard he was hired as an instructor of mathematics there, and a year later he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be an assistant professor of physics.[9] Later, Pickering served as director of Harvard College Observatory (HCO) from 1877 to his death in 1919, where he made great leaps forward in the gathering of stellar spectra through the use of photography.[10] This immense amount of photographic research has provided scientists for decades with a seemingly endless library containing the history of every visible star's movements.[20][21][22][23] Fowler was initially-skeptical but was ultimately convinced that Bohr was correct, and by 1915 "spectroscopists had transferred [the Pickering series] definitively [from hydrogen] to helium.College educated women from around the country offered to work for the Harvard Observatory unpaid to gain experience or until proving their value to be paid.During this time, Pickering recruited over 80 women to work for him, including Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Antonia Maury, and Florence Cushman.[29][30] It was very unusual for such an accomplished scientist to work with this many women, but it has been said that he "became so exasperated with his male assistant's inefficiency, that even his maid could do a better job of copying and computing".[29] These women, the Harvard Computers (also described as "Pickering's Harem" by the male scientific community at the time), made several important discoveries at HCO.[30] Leavitt's discovery of the period-luminosity relationship for Cepheids, published by Pickering, would prove the foundation for the modern understanding of cosmological distances.It is true that they were underpaid compared to their male counterparts and were not given credit nearly as often, but his willingness to include them in the world of astronomy paved the way for many great female scientists and leaders.
This portrait was painted in 1911 by Sarah Gooll Putnam and is now part of the Harvard Art Museum . [ 8 ]
Pickering at the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory , 1910
Pickering and the Harvard Computers , standing in front of Building C at the Harvard College Observatory , 13 May 1913
Pickering's Triangle. The filaments are also known as Williamina Fleming's Triangular Wisp [ 35 ]
ForMemRSBostonCambridge, MassachusettsMount Auburn CemeteryHarvard Universityspectroscopic binaryMember of the National Academy of SciencesHenry Draper MedalValz PrizeBruce MedalGold Medal of the Royal Astronomical SocietyAstronomyastronomerphysicistWilliam Henry PickeringCarl Vogelmountain climbingbicyclingAppalachian Mountain Clubclassic musicfirst world warHarvardBoston Latin SchoolHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied SciencesSarah Gooll PutnamHarvard Art MuseumMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyWilliam Barton RogersCharles R. CrossHarvard College Observatorystellar spectraMount Wilson ObservatoryHenry DraperMary Anna DraperWilliam HugginsHarvard ComputersBritish Astronomical AssociationAmerican Association of Variable Star Observersphotographic platesWilliamina FlemingAnnie Jump CannonStellar ClassificationHenry Draper Catalogζ-PuppisPickering serieshydrogenAlfred FowlerNiels Bohratomic structureheliumspectroscopistsHenrietta Swan LeavittAntonia MauryFlorence CushmanCepheidspneumoniaSolon Baileycharged coupled devicesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench Academy of SciencesNational Academy of SciencesAmerican Philosophical SocietyPrix Jules JanssenSociété astronomique de FranceLL. D.Rumford MedalPour le MeritePickering lunar craterPickering martian craterAsteroid784 PickeringiaVeil NebulaMount PickeringScienceBibcodeBoston GlobeMIT LibrariesHarvard College Observatory CircularFleming, W. P.Astrophysical JournalLakatos, ImreCambridge University PressAstronomische NachrichtenFowler, A.Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyBohr, N.Philosophical MagazineNorth Holland Publishing CompanyHarvard University PressNatureRobotti, NadiaHistorical Studies in the Physical SciencesNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicineArchibald, Raymond ClareWikisource1911 Encyclopædia BritannicaProject GutenbergInternet ArchiveLibriVoxBiographical MemoirsDepartment of PhysicsEdwin Bidwell WilsonJohn C. SlaterVictor WeisskopfHerman FeshbachJerome Isaac FriedmanRobert J. BirgeneauErnest MonizMarc A. KastnerEdmund BertschingerPeter H. Fisher