Astronomer Annie Maunder and the ancient battles against ‘him’ and ‘him’


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Trinity College Dublin has elected Linda Doyle as its new principal; after almost 430 years, ireland’s oldest educational institution will have its first female executive director. Following his appointment, Doyle posed for a photo with a statue of George Salmon, Provost of the Trinity from 1888 to 1904, who allegedly said that “on my corpse women will enter this college.” Ironically, the day Salmon died, January 22, 1904, was the day Isabel Marion Weir arrived in Dublin to enroll as the university’s first student.

The fact that Doyle’s election is such a milestone reminds us of the many obstacles Irish women have had to overcome in order to be accepted by educational and scientific institutions. Astronomer Annie Maunder (1868-1947) is a particularly good example. Maunder, born as Annie Scott Dill Russell in Strabane, excelled in school and won an award in the Irish Intermediate Level Exams of 1886.

Although Trinity only admits men, the Royal University of Ireland has allowed women to take its exams. Russell might have been expected to graduate there, but was deterred by the experience of Alice Everett, who had achieved the highest marks on her freshman science exam in 1884.

Russell took to his job, qualifying to use observation telescopes and noting the changing size and position of sunspots.

Students who performed well would usually be offered a scholarship, but the university administration decided that women were not eligible for the scholarships and Everett decided to continue his education at Girton College, Cambridge. Russell won a scholarship to Girton, where she studied for the Mathematical Tripos, the most competitive math course in the world.

Russell passed the Tripos (women didn’t graduate from Cambridge until 1921) and moved to Jersey, where she taught high school math. Everett, meanwhile, had accepted a job at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Astronomer Royal William Christie had overseen the expansion of the observatory’s facilities, but had struggled to persuade the government to hire more assistants.

Instead, he received funding for additional “computers”, an entry-level position. Christie expanded that money by creating a new role of “computer lady”. This allowed her to bypass civil service regulations making it difficult to hire women and employ overqualified female candidates on salaries normally offered to schoolchildren.

Although the salary (£ 4 per month, around € 600 today) was only half of what she made teaching, Russell immediately took an interest in the job. She persuaded Robert Stawell Ball, the Astronomer Royal of Ireland, to write a letter supporting her candidacy.

Although this was successful, Russell’s attempt to renegotiate his salary, less than a quarter of the equivalent male salary, was not. Still, the lure of putting his math training for practical science was too strong, and Russell threw himself into his work, qualifying himself to use observation telescopes and noting the changing size and position of sunspots.

When Annie married Walter Maunder in 1895, she was forced to resign from Greenwich

Through his work and his shared religious commitment, Russell bonded with Edward Walter Maunder, director of photography at Greenwich. Maunder was an enthusiastic supporter of astronomers. In 1886, Elizabeth Isis Pogson had been appointed a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), but withdrew when a lawyer said that the use of “him” and “him” in the constitution of the company was intended to exclude women.

Maunder, a board member, decided in 1890 to create the British Astronomical Association (BAA), a more egalitarian body that admitted women. In 1892 he named Russell and Everett as SAR Fellows, with the “him” on their application forms crossed out and replaced with “she”. One member joked that the appointments would make SAR meetings more social, “and all we’ll need is a piano and a violin”, while another challenged the legality. of any election; in the end, neither was elected.

Stuart Mathieson

When Annie married Walter Maunder in 1895, she was forced to resign from Greenwich. She turned her efforts to the BAA, editing her journal and taking part in several eclipse observations. She also continued to work closely with Walter, author of several articles on sunspots. In 1908, they published a popular astronomical book, The Heavens and their Story. In the introduction, Walter explained that although he was a co-author, it was “almost entirely the work of my wife.” Finally, in 1916, the SAR ended its ban and Walter successfully appointed his wife as his first wife.

At every stage of his career, Maunder has faced obstacles due to his gender. The fact that she overcame so many of them was due to her exceptional abilities, support, and luck. Hopefully, the current generation of Irish scientists will only need the former.

Stuart Mathieson is a postdoctoral fellow working at the Dublin City University School of History and Geography

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