Authors
Maria Mitchell
1818 – 1889
Maria Mitchell was an American astronomer who became famous for discovering a new comet in 1847 using a small telescope from the roof of her house. She went on to become the first professional female astronomer in the United States and the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She later taught at Vassar College, encouraging generations of young women to study science.
Quotes
“Besides learning to see, there is another art to be learned,—not to see what is not.”
“Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to God.”
“Aside from the study of astronomy, there is the same enjoyment in a night upon the housetop, with the stars, as in the midst of other grand scenery; there is the same subdued quiet and grateful seriousness; a calm to the troubled spirit, and a hope to the desponding.”
“I wonder that I have so long been insensible to this charm in the skies, the tints of the different stars are so delicate in their variety.”
“Nothing comes out more clearly in astronomical observations than the immense activity of the universe.”
“The Aurora Borealis is always a pleasant companion; a meteor seems to come like a messenger from departed spirits; and the blossoming of trees in the moonlight becomes a sight looked for with pleasure.”
“We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”
“We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire.”
“The great gain would be freedom of thought.”
“No woman should say, 'I am but a woman!' But a woman! What more can you ask to be?”
“You cannot study anything persistently for years without becoming learned.”