Frances Woodworth Wright was born inProvidence, Rhode Island, the daughter of George William Wright and Nellie Woodworth Wright.[1] As a child in 1907, Wright wrote a short essay titled "My Favorite Poem", for the popular national children's magazineSt. Nicholas.[2] She earned her Bachelors Degree from Pembroke College in 1919. She earned a bachelor's degree atBrown University in 1920.[3] She was granted a Ph.D. in astronomy fromRadcliffe College in 1958, as a student ofFred Whipple.[4][5][6]
Frances Woodworth Wright examining a planetary exhibit.
Wright taught astronomy and mathematics atElmira College[7] before she was hired to be acomputer atHarvard College Observatory. There she became a close friend of astronomerCecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.[8] The two women traveled across the United States by car together in 1930, to visit observatories in the American west, camping along the way.[9]
During World War II, Wright taughtcelestial navigation to military officers and engineers;[10][11] for many years afterward, she taught navigation classes to Harvard students and local sailors.[12] "I just love the looks in some of their faces when they've learned something," she said in 1986. "You feel as if you've added to their horizons, just as it adds to mine. It inspires me to think this course gives them a sense of adventure."[13]
She wrote three books on navigation techniques, all published byCornell Maritime Press:Celestial Navigation (1969, revised 1982),[14]Coastwise Navigation (1980),[15] andParticularized Navigation: How to Prevent Navigational Emergencies (1973).[16] She was also co-author ofBasic Marine Navigation (1944, withBart Bok)[17] andThe Large Magellanic Cloud (1967, withPaul W. Hodge).[18] Her published research included several studies of meteoritic particles.[19][20][21][22][23]
Wright continued working at the observatory until 1971, and taught undergraduate courses in navigation for many years after that.[4]
Frances Woodworth Wright died from cancer in 1989 in Cambridge, aged 92 years.[26][27] Her small telescope is in the collection of historical scientific instruments at Harvard University,[28] and Wright created and endowed the Frances W. Wright Navigation Fund, ensure the course's continued availability.A minor planet, '2133 Franceswright' discovered at the Harvard Observatory on November 20th, 1976, was named after her.[12][13]
^Wright, Frances W.; Hodge, Paul W.; Langway, Chester C. (1963). "Studies of particles for extraterrestrial origin: 1. Chemical analyses of 118 particles".Journal of Geophysical Research.68 (19):5575–5587.Bibcode:1963JGR....68.5575W.doi:10.1029/JZ068i019p05575.ISSN2156-2202.
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