Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...218.9804l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #98.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Astronomer, educator, and science historian Dorrit Hoffleit (1907-2007) was widely respected by the amateur and professional astronomical community as a mentor and an ardent supporter of independent research. Her more than 600 catalogues, books, articles, book reviews, and news columns cover myriad aspects of astronomy, from variable stars and stellar properties to meteor showers, quasars, and rocketry. She also made important contributions to the history of astronomy. Hoffleit worked at the Harvard College Observatory from 1927-1956, where she discovered over 1200 variable stars. When Director Harlow Shapley retired from Harvard, Hoffleit gave up her tenured position and moved to Yale University, where she was placed in charge of the Yale Catalog of Bright Stars. At the same time, she was offered a position as director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Hoffleit split her dual positions into six-month stints and remained director at the Mitchell Observatory for 21 years, developing a summer research program that engaged more than 100 undergraduate students (all but three of them women) in variable star research. Up until shortly before her death, she continued to work tirelessly on selected projects, and she was in high demand as a collaborator with colleagues at Yale and elsewhere. She was especially devoted to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) in part because it brought together amateur and professional astronomers in collaboration. She served on the organization's council for 23 years and as its president from 1961-1963. In 2002, the AAVS0 published her autobiography, Misfortunes as Blessings in Disguise, in which Hoffleit explains how she always felt blessed by the opportunities in her life, even those which initially seemed misfortunes, and above all else valued creativity, flexibility, collegiality, and intellectual freedom in her professional life.
No associations
LandOfFree
Variable Stars and Constant Commitments: The Stellar Career of Dorrit Hoffleit does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Variable Stars and Constant Commitments: The Stellar Career of Dorrit Hoffleit, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Variable Stars and Constant Commitments: The Stellar Career of Dorrit Hoffleit will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1735979