Maria Mitchell’s curiosity about the night sky led her to spend hours studying the stars. She discovered a comet as a young woman, winning an award from the King of Denmark for being the first person to discover a new comet using a telescope.
Now famous as “the lady astronomer,” Maria went on to become a professional astronomer, an unheard of achievement for a woman in the 19th century. She was the first woman to get any kind of government job when she was hired by the United States Naval Observatory. Then as the first woman astronomy professor in the world, Maria used her position at Vassar College to teach young women to set their sights on the sky, training new generations of female astronomers. Her story inspires all of us to reach for the stars.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-1954354135 Ages 8-12
Keywords: biography, women, astronomy, science, women's history, role model, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
See also: Maria Mitchell: Soul of An Astronomer by Beatrice Gormley 978-0802852649 137 pages
