V Irginia Trimble is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. She has published more than 1000 works, including research papers in astronomy, astrophysics, the history of science and scientometrics, as well as book reviews and biographies. She co-edited The Sky Is for Everyone, a collection of autobiographical essays by women in astronomy. Each tells of the barriers they overcame to change the face of modern astronomy.
It wasn't a love of stars that got you into astronomy. The University of California, Los Angeles did not have an archaeology major. My dad saw astronomy while looking at the catalog. The school of engineering wasn't very welcoming to women so I switched to astronomy-physics. I started at UCLA as a gifted student.
You were featured in a Life magazine article in 1962. I was contacted by a publicity agency looking for a way to bring up the ratings of the last year of the twilight zone programmes. I did radio and newspaper interviews in 10 cities where television ratings were taken. I was reading the script to make sure it was accurate. There is a difference between a solar system and a universe. It was able to bring in some extra money.
Feynman’s wife often brought us orange juice and cookies, and I didn’t want to be naked on the couch with him when she did
When you were 21, you started graduate school at Caltech. In 1965, you received your masters degree in physics and astronomy and in 1968, you received your PhD in astronomy. They admitted women only under exceptional circumstances, so it was hard to get in. My fellowship required me to go somewhere other than my undergraduate institution, and I didn't want to leave home, so I went to Caltech and UCLA. Two women who arrived ahead of me in astronomy came with their husbands, and there were 14 women on the whole campus when I arrived.
Caltech seemed to be a hot spot for seduction. I noticed in both my undergraduate and graduate classes that there were a lot of nice men. I was in love with the astronomy professor until I left Caltech.
He decided he wanted that one after seeing me walk across the campus. When Mnch came out of the building, he went up to him and said, "I'm hunting, maybe you know the quarry." Mnch introduced us to our new boss.
I was paid $5.50 an hour by the man. I used to go to his studio for a couple of hours on Tuesday nights. Occasionally, I posed nude. We sometimes cuddled. I said I didn't want to cuddle on the couch when he suggested it. When his wife brought us orange juice and cookies, I didn't want to be naked on the sofa with her.
Wasn't it weird to work with these professors? There was a lot of power in the group. I could always just walk away from the situation. It would cause us all to be fired.
You have published hundreds of research papers, but maybe your colleagues know you best for your annual summaries of astrophysics research, which you did for 16 years starting in 1991. I couldn't help but wonder how deliberate the humor was. It is said that if we are on the spectrum, we should simply describe things in a way that makes other people laugh. Some of the footnotes were meant to amuse. The rotund musician and the keen amateur dentist were described by pseudonyms. It was said that if a summary came out, the astronomer from Princeton would go into the library late at night to check if they had been mentioned.
The first women in astronomy came in through a father, brother or husband, and some are still married today. Being a human computer involved doing calculations by hand. The job that a college-educated woman could do that wasn't teaching or nursing was an interesting one. Post-Sputnik concerns in the US led to the growth of graduate programmes in space related fields. They hired women faculty so they could expand. Roughly 40% of astronomy graduate students are female today.
Which female astronomer hasn't been nominated for a prize? Stars are made of hydrogen and helium. She was not believed until it was confirmed. When Bell Burnell was a PhD student, she was involved in the discovery of pulsars, but only her supervisor received a share of the prize. The male PhD student shared the prize with his adviser, who was also a PhD student.
There are some shocking sexist behavior and sexual harassment in the book. I don't want to seem to be defending law-breakers, but clearly "men behaving badly" has been a major problem for some of my colleagues. I don't think I have been harassed. I find it hard to believe that some senior male scientists have been accused of being inappropriate. Some things may feel different to different women.
Do you have any advice for young women who want to become an astronomer? To earn your living, find something you are good at and do it.
The Sky Is for Everyone is a book. Go to guardianbookshop.com to order your copy. Delivery charges can be applied.
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