Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who revolutionized our understanding of what stars & the Universe are made of, was born #OTD in 1900.

In 1926, she wrote what is considered the "undoubtedly most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy".

She continued in the same spirit - only to be denied a professorship (or even the a proper astronomer position). She finally became a professor at Harvard at 1956(!) & first woman to chair a department.

#VicisAstro #astronomy #WomenInSTEM #astrophysics #SciArt

@vicgrinberg «La recompensa del joven científico es la emoción de ser la primera persona en la historia del mundo en ver o entender algo. Nada se puede comparar con esa experiencia. […] La recompensa del viejo científico es la sensación de haber visto un vago esbozo convertirse en un paisaje magistral».

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

@vicgrinberg Imagine how much further along society would be if we didn't shut out half of the human population.
@vicgrinberg I get a little sad when I read her disclaimer, but I understand that she would have had problems getting her thesis approved without it.