by Jill Bianco by Jill BiancoWith hearing people, the beauty of heavens inspires young or old deaf writers . In a library in London, there is an old volume sitting there rarely been read. It is the collection of writings from deaf children in the late 1800's.
A young deaf woman picked out the book and read it through. She wrote the following words: "There are many stars whose light now glimmers for the first time before our eyes, and there may be more whose light has not yet reached us. Is it, then, that slowness with which light travels, or the immensity of space over which it has to go, that is the occasion of this?" The questioni I just mentioned was answered a few decades later.
The starlight was extensively analyzed by Annie Jump Cannon who lost her hearing during her stay at Wellesley College. Another woman worked with her, Henrietta Swan Leavitt who is also deaf. They were hired as "computers" at Harvard College Observator y along with many hearing women. While at their jobs, they rose by providing leaderships and continuing fascinating legacy. Annie was honored as " Dean of Women Astronomers" by receiving the Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences for her cla ssification of more than 300,000 stars.
During a discussion at Harvard College Observatory , a white dwarf Annie had discovered suggested an eggort for her to have optimal conditions for speechreading. There was a scant evidence of communication between Henrietta and Annie. They worked tog ether on Maria Mitchell Fellowship Committee at the Harvard College Observatory but there are some records of written communication between them.
Annie's talk titled "The Story of Starlight" was given not long before her death. It was summarized the development of spectroscopy since the time of Newton's experiments with the glass prism. She also recognized Henrietta's discovery of the p eriodluminosity law which is an important step in this history.