The Girl Who Studied the Stars

It was an eventful day in the Mitchell home. The parlor window had been taken out and the telescope mounted in front of it. Twelve-year-old Maria, at her father’s side, counted the seconds while he observed a total eclipse of the sun.

Not every twelve-year-old girl could be trusted to use the chronometer, an instrument which measures the time even more accurately than a watch. Maria, however, had been helping her father in his study of the stars ever since she could count. Before many years this little girl beside the telescope became America’s best-known woman astronomer.

On the little three-cornered island of Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts, Maria Mitchell was born, August 1, 1818. With its broad sandy beaches, its wide moors, and ocean breezes, the island was a delightful spot in which to grow up.

The Mitchell home was a pleasant place, filled with the laughter and fun of a large family of children. Due to the mother’s careful planning, the wheels of the household machinery ran very smoothly. No one would have guessed, by seeing the cheerful, comfortable home, how far Mrs. Mitchell had to stretch a tiny income.

Work and play were happily mingled. Little Maria, with her sisters, learned to cook and sew. Maria was always ready to do her share of the household work. If she swept a room, she did it thoroughly. When she arranged the furniture it might not be done artistically, but every piece was straight. She could not bear to have things crooked. This exactness about little things was one of the qualities that made it possible for this girl to become a great astronomer.

There were always good books in the Mitchell home. They were read over and over, and were very carefully handled. One textbook, an algebra, was used by eight children, in succession, each child adding his name inside the cover.

Mr. Mitchell, who was a Quaker, enjoyed quoting to his children from the Bible and from the poets. He was particularly fond of references to his beloved stars. He often said that an astronomer could not fail to believe in God. One of the earliest poems that Maria learned was about the heavens, beginning, “The spacious firmament on high.” She used to like to say it over to herself when, in later years she was frightened or troubled.

The most unusual object in Maria’s home was her father’s telescope. On pleasant evenings it was set up in the back yard. Ever since boyhood Mr. Mitchell had been interested in the stars and had made astronomy his special study. Every clear evening he observed the heavens. Maria was always glad to help him. Soon she took as keen a delight in watching the sky as he.

The chronometers of all the whale ships which sailed into Nantucket were brought to Mr. Mitchell to be “rated,” as it was called. Maria used to help her father with this; and at a very early age learned how to use a measuring instrument called the sextant.

There was no school at this time where Maria Mitchell could be taught astronomy. Even Harvard University had no better telescope than her father’s. Maria, however, had an excellent teacher in him. Many scientists sought out Mr. Mitchell in remote Nantucket, and Maria had the benefit of their conversation.

The years of Maria Mitchell’s girlhood passed quietly but happily. She went to two schools that her father taught, and then to a private school where she did very good work in mathematics. At sixteen years of age she began to teach. She gave up teaching, however, to become librarian of the Nantucket AthenÆum, a position that she held for nearly twenty years.

The library was open only afternoons and Saturday evenings. In the afternoons there were few visitors, so Miss Mitchell had plenty of time for reading and study. She went on with her studies in higher mathematics and worked out difficult astronomical problems. Whenever visitors came in and chatted, as they liked to do with this bright, interesting young woman, her book was dropped for knitting. Maria Mitchell never wasted a moment.

Every clear evening was spent on the housetop observing the heavens. No matter how many guests there were in the parlor, Miss Mitchell would slip out and, lantern in hand, mount to the roof where the telescope was now kept.

On October 1, 1847, there was a party at the Mitchell home. Maria, as usual, ran up to the telescope. Presently she hurried back and told her father that she had seen a new comet. Mr. Mitchell was convinced that she was right and he wrote to Harvard University, announcing the discovery. Maria Mitchell received for this discovery a gold medal offered sixteen years before, by the King of Denmark, to the first discoverer of a telescopic comet. This won world-wide distinction for Miss Mitchell.

The next year another great honor came to the Nantucket girl. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was the first woman to be admitted to this important scientific society.

Soon after this Miss Mitchell was asked to put her knowledge of astronomy to use on a work for navigators called the American Nautical Almanac. She was to watch the course of the planet Venus, and to make the tables which mariners need to guide them. For nineteen years she kept up this important work.

It was quite natural that a woman who had watched ships pass her island home ever since childhood should long to travel. Miss Mitchell was especially eager to meet the great scientists of Europe. At last the happy time came for a European trip. Everywhere she was cordially received, and astronomers not only opened their observatories to her, but welcomed her in their homes.

Shortly after Vassar College was opened, Maria Mitchell was asked to become its professor of astronomy and director of the observatory. Accepting this position meant giving up to a great extent her own studies and the hopes of making more discoveries in the heavens. However, Miss Mitchell was very anxious that women should have a chance for higher education. Therefore, she put her own ambitions aside and threw herself into the work of teaching.

Hundreds who knew her at Vassar will say that she chose wisely. She was honored as a remarkable teacher and loved as a friend and adviser.

Miss Mitchell was a prominent member of many important organizations. Several colleges conferred degrees upon her.

In 1905 Maria Mitchell was elected to the Hall of Fame. This hall, which is situated on the grounds of New York University, was built to commemorate the achievements of distinguished citizens of the United States.

Maria Mitchell lives in the memory of scientists as a great astronomer. She lives in the hearts of her students as one who taught the beauty of thorough and accurate work, and of lives free from pretense and sham.