Frances Woodworth Wright

Frances Woodworth Wright (April 30, 1897 – July 30, 1989) was an American astronomer based at Harvard University. During World War II, she taught celestial navigation to military officers and engineers.

Frances Woodworth Wright
White woman seated at a telescope.
Frances Woodworth Wright at Harvard College Observatory
BornApril 30, 1897
Providence, Rhode Island
DiedJuly 30, 1989
Cambridge, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)astronomer, educator

Early life

Frances Woodworth Wright was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of George William Wright and Nellie Woodworth Wright.[1] As a child in 1907, Wright wrote a short essay titled "My Favorite Poem", for the popular national children's magazine St. Nicholas.[2] She earned a bachelor's degree at Brown University in 1920.[3] She was granted a Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe College in 1958, as a student of Fred Whipple.[4][5][6]

White woman standing, looking up at an astronomy exhibit.
Frances Woodworth Wright examining a planetary exhibit.

Career

Wright taught astronomy and mathematics at Elmira College[7] before she was hired to be a computer at Harvard College Observatory. There she became a close friend of astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.[8] The two women traveled across the United States by car together in 1930, to visit observatories in the American west, camping along the way.[9]

During World War II, Wright taught celestial navigation to military officers and engineers;[10][11] for many years afterward, she taught navigation classes to Harvard students and local sailors.[12] "I just love the looks in some of their faces when they've learned something," she said in 1986. "You feel as if you've added to their horizons, just as it adds to mine. It inspires me to think this course gives them a sense of adventure."[13]

She wrote three books on navigation techniques, all published by Cornell Maritime Press: Celestial Navigation (1969, revised 1982),[14] Coastwise Navigation (1980),[15] and Particularized Navigation: How to Prevent Navigational Emergencies (1973).[16] She was also co-author of Basic Marine Navigation (1944, with Bart Bok)[17] and The Large Magellanic Cloud (1967, with Paul W. Hodge).[18] Her published research included several studies of meteoritic particles.[19][20][21][22][23]

Wright continued working at the observatory until 1971, and taught undergraduate courses in navigation for many years after that. [4]

Personal life and legacy

She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1961.[24] In 1976, the minor planet 2133 Franceswright was named in her honor, after its discovery at the Harvard College Observatory.[25]

Frances Woodworth Wright died from cancer in 1989 in Cambridge, aged 92 years.[26][27] Her small telescope is in the collection of historical scientific instruments at Harvard University,[28] and Wright created and endowed the Frances W. Wright Navigation Fund, ensure the course's continued availability.[12][13]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frances Woodworth Wright.
  1. Ogilvie, Marilyn; Harvey, Joy (2003-12-16). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. Routledge. ISBN 9781135963422.
  2. Wright, Frances Woodworth (April 1907). "My Favorite Poem". St. Nicholas: 563–564.
  3. University, Brown (1920). Catalogue. p. 202.
  4. Sobel, Dava (2016). The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars. Penguin. p. 292. ISBN 9780670016952.
  5. "Find New 'Brand' of Meteor Shower". Lansing State Journal. February 7, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved May 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Frances Wright, 92, Harvard Astronomer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  7. "Ex-Elmira College Professor Dies at 92". Star-Gazette. July 31, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved May 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. McGrath, Alex (February 9, 2018). "Cecilia and Sergei: American Astronomers". Galactic Gazette, Wolbach Library. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  9. Haramundanis, Katherine (1996). Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: An Autobiography and Other Recollections Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 183. ISBN 978-0521483902.
  10. Wright, Frances W. (1986-01-01). "Bart J. Bok and Navigation during World War II". Astronomy Quarterly. 5 (19): 151–156. Bibcode:1986AstQ....5..151W. doi:10.1016/0364-9229(86)90003-5. ISSN 0364-9229.
  11. Birtwell, Roger. "Woman Taught Soldiers How to Sail in War" The Boston Globe (January 6, 1967): 72. via Newspapers.com
  12. Kim, Victoria (October 27, 2004). "With Stars As Their Guides". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  13. "Astronomy Prof Funds Course". The Transcript. June 3, 1986. p. 2. Retrieved May 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Wright, Frances Woodworth (1982). Celestial Navigation. Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 9780870332913.
  15. Wright, Frances Woodworth (1980-01-01). Coastwise Navigation. Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 9780870332609.
  16. Wright, Frances Woodworth (1973). Particularized Navigation: How to Prevent Navigational Emergencies. Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 9780870331886.
  17. Bok, Bart Jan; Wright, Frances W. (1944). Basic Marine Navigation. Houghton Mifflin.
  18. Hodge, Paul W.; Wright, Frances Woodworth (1967). The Large Magellanic Cloud. Smithsonian Press. ISBN 9780608177533.
  19. Wright, Frances W.; Hodge, Paul W.; Langway, Chester C. (1963). "Studies of particles for extraterrestrial origin: 1. Chemical analyses of 118 particles". Journal of Geophysical Research. 68 (19): 5575–5587. Bibcode:1963JGR....68.5575W. doi:10.1029/JZ068i019p05575. ISSN 2156-2202.
  20. Hodge, Paul W.; Wright, Frances W. (November 1973). "Particles Around Boxhole Meteorite Crater". Meteoritics. 8 (4): 315–320. Bibcode:1973Metic...8..315H. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.1973.tb01182.x.
  21. Hodge, Paul W.; Wright, Frances W. (March 1970). "Meteoritic Spherules in the Soil surrounding Terrestrial Impact Craters". Nature. 225 (5234): 717–718. Bibcode:1970Natur.225..717H. doi:10.1038/225717a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 16056712. S2CID 4279430.
  22. Hodge, Paul W.; Wright, Frances W. (April 1969). "A semiempirical estimate of the micrometeorite flux at the earth's surface and its implications". Icarus. 10 (2): 214–219. Bibcode:1969Icar...10..214H. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(69)90023-2.
  23. "Dust on Glaciers Believed from Space". Daily Independent Journal. August 26, 1964. p. 35. Retrieved May 31, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Historic fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  25. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2013-11-11). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 274. ISBN 9783662066157.
  26. "Frances Woodworth Wright; Instructor in Celestial Navigation" Los Angeles Times (August 2, 1989): 16. via ProQuest
  27. "Frances Wright, 92, Harvard Astronomer". The New York Times. August 1, 1989. p. A17 – via ProQuest.
  28. "Frances W. Wright". The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
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