Maria Winkelmann
$0.75
Friday, February 28, 2014
Alexander Diaz
Problems with
Scientific Discoveries
and Achievements
the Berlin Academy
...she found a comet in the sky. At which time she woke me, and I found that it was indeed a comet... I was surprised that I had not seen it the night before.
~Gottfried Kirch 1710
- Her husband did not attribute the discovery to her for fear that he could not acknowledge Maria's contributions directly as the Academy's head astronomer.
- Contributed to establishing the Berlin Academy of Science as a major center of Astronomy.
- Never attended a University, but was trained by her family.
- Published several works about her discoveries.
- Worked as assistant for her husband, another astronomer.
- Discovered the first "comet" - though the credit went to her husband. It was deemed the "Comet of 1702".
- Denied a position from her Academy because she was a woman.
- Her situation reflected what other female scholars went through until the Twentieth Century.
- Overall, the Scientific Revolution did little to alter people's view about the nature of women.
Biographical Information
Querrelles des Femmes
- Born in Leapzig, Germany in the year 1670.
- Educated by her father and uncle.
- Worked alongside her husband, Gottfried Kirch, Prussia's foremost astronomist.
- Became the most famous female astronomer in Germany.
Written Works
- Observations on Aurora Borealis (1707)
- "Von der Conjunction der Sonne des Saturni und der Venus" (1709)
- "The Approaching Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn" (1712)