by Rayni Plaster by Rayni PlasterDeaf women in science have always fascinated me. When I discovered that the "Dean of Women astronomers" was deaf, I immediately wanted to know more. Her name was Annie Jump Cannon.
It all began when a young deaf woman, perhaps on a night when she looked up at the starlit sky, said to herself, "There are many new stars whose light now glimmers for the first time before our very eyes, and there may be many more whose light has yet to reach us. Is it then, the slowness with which light travels, or the immensity of space over which it has to go, that is the occasion of this?" It began the quest of a young woman by the name of Annie Jump Cannon. Cannon was a deaf, woman astronomer for th e Harvard College Observatory.
She was born in 1863 but did not become deaf until she was a student at Wellsley College. Her and an also deaf woman, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, along with many other hearing women were selected to be "computers" at the Observatory doing menial jobs and w hatnot. Cannon began to rise in stature proving leadership ability in this endeavor. She soon became known as Annie Jump Cannon, "Dean of Women Astronomers," upon receiving the Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her meticulous cl assification of nearly 300,000 stars. However when she applied for membership to the NAS she was turned down. She was told that the reason was because of her deafness, however, she later found out that this was not the only reason. It was also due to the fact that she was a woman. Cannon chose not to fight this discrimination but just it as women often did during this era. She however, did not go unnoticed.
In light of her efforts, she paved the way for many more astronomers to come, either being women, being deaf, or both. A reference to her work was also made in Robert Grand Aitken's book The Binary Stars, he was deaf as well. On the near side of the mo on there lies a crater named after Cannon as well, it's called Crater Cannon.
There were many things that Cannon did to prove that she was not just any astronomer discovering what lights up the night. She proved that no matter who you are or what you are, you can still do whatever it is that you want to do. She proved that beyon d her disability and her gender there lies a smart, beautiful woman waiting to show the world what she can do. She influenced many into the field of astronomy among many other sciences and for that the world is thankful. For without women like her who bea t the odds, where would we be?