She Caught the Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer
by Kathryn Lasky (Author) Julianna Swaney (Illustrator)
From Newbery Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky comes a nonfiction picture book about the stars! Lasky tells the inspiring true story of astronomer Williamina Fleming, who helped lay the foundations for modern astronomy and overcame impossible odds as an immigrant and a woman. For stargazers and trailblazers everywhere!
"Both an intriguing introduction to astronomy and an involving tale of a strong woman who overcame adversity." --Kirkus Reviews
"A compelling story and a fine addition to STEM studies." --School Library Journal
"This picture book biography illuminates how [Williamina's] work chipped away at sexist barriers of the late 19th century." --Publishers Weekly
Ever since Williamina Fleming was little she was curious, and her childhood fascination with light inspired her life's work. Mina became an astronomer in a time when women were discouraged from even looking through telescopes. Yet Mina believed that the universe, with its billions of stars, was a riddle--and she wanted to help solve it.
Mina ultimately helped to create a map of the universe that paved the way for astronomers. Newbery Honor-winning Kathryn Lasky shares her incredible true story.
Use this book to encourage conversation at home and the classroom about women and STEM. This is a captivating picture book that centers around women and empowerment, perfect for Women's History Month and to be shared alongside such powerful titles as Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton.
Kathryn Lasky's nonfiction book Sugaring Time was a Newbery Honor Book, and the books she authored in the Dear America and Royal Diaries series have sold over 3 million copies. Julianna Swaney is the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestselling We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines.
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School Library Journal
Gr 1-3--This picture book biography chronicles the career of Williamina Stevens Fleming (1857-1911), who was a white Scottish scientist. Her groundbreaking work, which classified the spectra of stars recorded on the telescope of the Harvard College Observatory, was a major contribution to the science of astronomy. The text emphasizes Fleming's early signs of curiosity, her frequent questioning, and her ultimate fascination with the stars. Readers follow her growth and development from her marriage, the disappearance of her husband, and her work as a maid. Her job as a maid for Professor Pickering and his wife Elizabeth led to her career in astronomy. Pickering, who was the director of the Harvard College Observatory for studying stars, and his wife recognized Fleming's intelligence and gave her a chance to replace one of the professor's male assistants, who was making mistakes in his mathematical calculations. As one of several women hired by the observatory as "human computers," Fleming classified the spectra of stars as recorded by the observatory's telescope. She also discovered a "stellar nursery," a place where stars are born, within the Orion constellation. When Fleming was appointed curator of astronomical photographs in 1898, she became the first woman to receive an official title at Harvard. Includes an author's note, a time line, and a bibliography. VERDICT A compelling story and a fine addition to STEM studies.--Myra Zarnowski, City Univ. of New York
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
Highlighting the life of Scottish-born astronomer Williamina Stevens Fleming, this picture book biography illuminates how her work chipped away at sexist barriers of the late 19th century. Lasky's straightforward narrative describes how the young single mother transitions from being a maid to becoming one of Harvard's first female "human computers," studying astronomical photographs to determine a star's composition. Fleming later discovered the Horsehead Nebula and classified more than 10,000 stars, though she and other women weren't allowed to peer through a telescope. Swaney's digitized watercolor and gouache illustrations include stars on a deep indigo field, the motif skirting the edges of scenes while complementing the narrative's accessible scientific explanations. Wide-ranging back matter provides further information related to this pioneering astronomer. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JNF007120 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Women
JNF051040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Astronomy
Astronomers
Women astronomers
Harvard College Observatory
Fleming, Williamina P.
