Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia (1900–1979)

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Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia (1900–1979)

American astrophysicist, an authority on variable stars and galactic structure, who was the first to receive a Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe (1925) and the first woman to achieve the rank of professor at Harvard University (1956). Name variations: Cecelia Gaposhkin; Cecilia Gaposchkin. Born Cecilia Helena Payne on March 10, 1900, in Wendover, England; died on December 7, 1978, in Cambridge, Massachusetts; daughter of Edward John Payne (a lawyer and historian) and Emma (Pertz) Payne (an artist); attended private schools; Newnham College, Cambridge University, B.A., 1923; Radcliffe College, Ph.D. in astronomy, 1925; married Sergei I. Gaposchkin (an astronomer), on March 6, 1934; children: Edward Michael Gaposchkin; Katherine Leonora Gaposchkin; Peter John Arthur Gaposchkin.

One of the 20th century's most renowned women scientists, astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin conducted pioneering research into the composition and classification of stars, contributing greatly to our knowledge of the structure of the Galaxy. She also successfully raised a family while pursuing a career in a profession not widely open to women. Her love of science was clear in her poem "Research," which appears at the end of her autobiography. "O Universe, O Lover/ I gave myself to thee/ Not for gold/ Not for glory/ But for love."

Cecilia Helena Payne was born on May 10, 1900, in Wendover, England, into a family of intellectuals. Although her father died when she was four, along with her brother and sister, she received a private school education and attended college. After graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge, where her interest in astronomy surfaced, Cecilia won a National Research Fellowship which allowed her to pursue graduate study at Radcliffe College and the Harvard College Observatory in the United States. In 1925, she received the first Ph.D. ever awarded in astronomy from Radcliffe, submitting a brilliant doctoral thesis in which she determined temperature scale for stellar atmospheres and also concluded that stars are made up primarily of hydrogen and helium, with traces of other elements, a theory still held. After receiving her advanced degree, knowing she would not find work in her chosen field if she returned to England, Payne-Gaposchkin remained at the observatory, although in doing so she was forced to limit her research to those guidelines set by the faculty. In 1927, after serving her apprenticeship as a research fellow, she became a permanent member of the Harvard College observatory staff, serving in a somewhat ill-defined position. During that time, in addition to advising graduate students and teaching an occasional class, she published a second book, Stars of High Luminosity (1930).

In 1933, in conjunction with a book on novae and other variable stars she was planning with Russian astronomer Boris Gerasimovich, Cecilia traveled to Europe, where she met astronomer Sergei Gaposchkin, a Russian émigré who had just finished his doctorate at Berlin University. Unable to return to the USSR because of his political views, he appealed to her to find him a job a Harvard, which she managed to do even in the midst of an economic depression that resulted in layoffs among the observatory staff. In March 1934, Cecilia and Sergei surprised their colleagues by "eloping" to New York City, where they were married by a justice of the peace. At the time, Cecilia adopted the hyphenated name Payne-Gaposchkin; she wanted to keep her own name for professional continuity. While she continued to pursue her career, however, she faced the additional challenges of managing a home and raising a family. She continued to work through her three pregnancies (while curtailing her public appearances), but found that child care became her greatest obstacle.

When nannies failed to meet her needs, she resorted to bringing her children to the observatory, much to the consternation of her fellow workers. Still, her career flourished at Harvard. In 1938, she was appointed Phillips Astronomer and a lecturer at the observatory, and in 1956, she became the first woman to receive tenure and the first to be appointed chair of the astronomy department.

While Payne-Gaposchkin's early work focused on the spectra of the stars and presented the first convincing evidence that the stars are similar to the sun in their chemical make-up, her later work, much of it conducted with her husband, concentrated on the study of variable stars. The couple's research included the exhaustive study of 1,500 specimens located over the entire sky, from which they made several million observations and documented them in numerous publications. In addition to projects with her husband, Payne-Gaposchkin collaborated with other members of the observatory staff, and also worked independently, studying unusual stars, such as those that pulsate violently or that explode (Astrophysical Journal, May 1946). Some of her research involved the analysis of astronomical photographs and spectrum studies (Astrophysical Journal, July and November 1946). She also wrote Stars in the Making (1952), Introduction to Astronomy (1954), Variable Stars and Galactic Structure (1954), and Galactic Novae (1957).

In the course of her career, Payne-Gaposchkin received numerous awards for her scientific accomplishments, including the first Annie Jump Cannon Medal of the American Astronomical Society (1934), and the Henry Norris Russell Prize for a lifetime of distinguished scientific research from the American Astronomical Society (1976). She was awarded honorary degrees from Wilson College, Smith College, Cambridge University, and the Western College for Women, and in 1952 was the recipient of an Award of Merit for outstanding scientific achievements from her alma mater, Radcliffe College. The only honor that apparently eluded her was election to the National Academy of Sciences.

Payne-Gaposchkin retired from the Harvard faculty in 1966, but retained her association with the observatory. In retirement, she wrote about some of her 19th-century ancestors and also prepared her autobiography, which was published posthumously in 1984.

In her acceptance speech and memorial lecture for the Henry Norris Russell Prize, delivered in 1977, two years before her death, Payne-Gaposchkin touched upon the high points of a scientific career, from the exuberant discoveries of youth to the deeper understandings that come with maturity:

The reward of the young scientist is the emotional thrill of being the first person in the history of the world to see something or to understand something. Nothing can compare with the experience; it engenders what Thomas Huxley called the Divine Dipsomania. The reward of the old scientist is the sense of having seen a vague sketch grow into a masterly landscape. Not a finished picture, of course; a picture that is still growing in scope and detail with the application of new techniques and new skills. The old scientist cannot claim that the masterpiece is his own work. He may have roughed out part of the design, laid on a few strokes, but he has learned to accept the discoveries of others with the same delight that he experienced his own when he was young.