Star Notes

Here are some resources on the female computers if you are interested in learning more about them and their work.

Online

Visit our website to see more resources on the Harvard Computers!

And here you can learn about the individual astronomers.

For teachers and students, we have uploaded collections on the Smithsonian Learning Lab about these women.

Books

• Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College. Cambridge, MA: Harvard College Observatory, 1856-1954. (Available in the Wolbach Library and digitized on archive.org).

• Bailey, Solon. The History and Work of Harvard Observatory 1839-1927. New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1931.

• Hirshfeld, Alan. Starlight Detectives: How Astronomers, Inventors, and Eccentrics Discovered the Modern Universe. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2014.

• Hoffleit, Dorrit. Women in the History of Variable Star Astronomy. Cambridge, MA: AAVSO, 1993.

• Jones, Bessie Zaban and Lyle Gifford Boyd. The Harvard College Observatory: The First Four Directorships, 1839-
  1919. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971.

• Johnson, George. Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 2005.

• Kuiper, Kathleen, ed. The 100 Most Influential Women of All Time. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, 2010.

• Sobel, Dava. The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory took the Measure of the Stars. New York: Viking Books, 2016.

• Yost, Edna. American Women of Science. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1943.

• Yount, Lisa. A to Z of Women in Science and Math. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1999

Can I get volunteer credit for my school, etc.?

You can fill out this form to get credit for your volunteer hours. Please keep track of your own hours. You can also email phaedra@cfa.harvard.edu if you have any questions. We also have a Spanish version of this volunteer form.