A Book by and about Women in Astronomy

It was not originally my idea, but that of David Weintraub of Vanderbilt University, and he already had a suitabley high-profile publisher lined up (Princeton U. Press). The idea was to colled, edit, and publish autobiographical chapters by successful women astronomers, from as wide a range of generations, nations, sub-disciplines, and other sub-communities as could be fit into a reasonable number of pages. They invited me, as a female astronomer, bo be alphabettically first editor. As the project developed, we recruited authors from a wider range of countries, and women of color, but failed to fill some other niches. There are introductory and concluding chapters, taking PhD women astronomers back into the late 19th century and bringing in special cases, like Caroline Herschel, Elizabeth Hevelius, and Margaret Huggines, and the "computers." "Successful" means that every author earned a PhD (1963 to recent), and everybody has a job more or less in the field or is retired from one. The chapter authors have had some remarkable adventures, experiences both rewards and the opposite (not infrequently connected with gender or even sex). We hope to see "light of print" in late spring 2022 (but you can order teh book now), and, in anaticipation of a 2nd volume or expanded online version, ask to hear from or about women who should have been included but weren't.