Women Scientists in Astronomy and Space

Women Scientists in Astronomy and Space — page 3 — WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE WANG ZHENYI Chinese astronomer Wang Zhenyi is best known for her works on eclipses and the movement of the planets and for her beautiful poetry Wang Zhenyi was born in China in 1769 at a time when women were expected to be little more than wives and mothers She was raised by her father and her grandparents They loved reading and learning and they passed this love on to Zhenyi Her grandfather taught her astronomy and her grandmother taught her poetry Her father taught her other subjects such as medicine geography and math The family traveled a lot within China and Zhenyi was able to see how other people lived 6

Women Scientists in Astronomy and Space — page 4 — QUICK FACTS NAME Wang Zhenyi BIRTH 1769 Anhui Province China OCCUPATION Scholar and poet EDUCATION Self-taught 7

Women Scientists in Astronomy and Space — page 5 — There were times that I had to put down my pen and sighed But I love the subject I do not give up WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE PUSHING BOUNDARIES In China in the 1700s girls were not educated like they are today Instead they were taught skills that would be useful once they were married such as cooking and sewing Girls like Zhenyi who came from wealthy scholarly families might be taught literature and even science at home But very few took it as far as Zhenyi was determined to do TEACHING HERSELF Zhenyi’s grandfather had a large library Some sources say that he had 75 bookshelves He owned works by Chinese scholars as well as translations of works by European thinkers Instead of going to school Zhenyi learned by reading and thinking about what she had read She was also able to discuss ideas with other scholars including some women Zhenyi read the works of the Greek mathematician Euclid translated into Chinese 8

Women Scientists in Astronomy and Space — page 6 — Zhenyi read everything with a critical eye Some of her earliest writings are reviews of other scholars work She was very interested in math and she wanted to make it easier for non-scholars She wrote a simplified version of a famous Chinese math book making both the language and the calculations easier for students to understand She firmly believed that learning was not just for men but was for women as well MARRIAGE At the age of 25 Zhenyi married Zhan Mei who also came from an intellectual family He supported her learning and writing and she continued to work throughout their marriage She had also started writing poetry Many of her poems were inspired by things and people she had seen on her travels The poems showed her knowledge of history and literature WANG ZHENYI Zhenyi spent a lot of her time reading the works of other scholars including medical books like this one 9

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