MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Before modern science
  2. 2The scientific revolution
  3. 3Chemistry and the elements
  4. 4Life sciences
  5. 5Modern physics
  6. 6The molecular era
  7. 7Computing and mathematics
  8. 8Astronomy and space
  9. 9Medicine and public health
  10. 10What the record shows

Chapter 8 of 10

Astronomy and space

Measuring the universe.

Mapping the sky

Henrietta Swan Leavitt's period-luminosity relation gave astronomers a distance ladder, which Hubble used to show the universe is expanding.

  • Cecilia Payne showed stars are mostly hydrogen, against the consensus.
  • Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars; the Nobel went to her supervisor.

Spaceflight

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson computed and checked the trajectories behind early American crewed flights while working under segregation.