Maria Margaretha Kirch (''née'' Winckelmann, in historic sources named Maria Margaretha Kirchin; 25 February 1670 – 29 December 1720) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
. She was one of the first famous astronomers of her period due to her writing on the conjunction of the sun with
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
,
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, and
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
in 1709 and 1712 respectively.
Early life
Maria was educated from an early age by her father, a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
minister, who believed that she deserved an education equivalent to that given to young boys.
By the age of 13 she had lost both her father and mother. By that time, she had also received a general education from her brother-in-law Justinus Toellner and the well-known self taught astronomer
Christoph Arnold
Christoph Arnold (17 December 1650 – 15 April 1695) was a German farmer and amateur astronomer.
Life
Born in Sommerfeld near Leipzig, Arnold was a farmer by profession. Interested in astronomy, he spotted the great comet of 1683, eight days ...
, who lived nearby in the town of Sommerfeld and was credited with being the first to discover a passing comet.
She became Arnold's unofficial
apprentice
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
and later his assistant, living with him and his family.
Astronomy was not organized entirely along
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
lines during this time period. As a result, the journey to become an astronomer often looked very different on a case by case basis.
Through Arnold, Maria met the famous German
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
and
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
Gottfried Kirch
Gottfried Kirch (; also KircheKenneth Glyn Jones, ''The Search for the Nebulae'', Alpha Academic, 1975, p. 19. , Kirkius; 18 December 1639 – 25 July 1710) was a German astronomer and the first "Astronomer Royal" in Berlin and, as such, directo ...
, who was 30 years her senior and had received training in astronomy by Johannes Hevelius and a formal education at the University of Jena.
They married in 1692, later having four children, all of whom followed their parents by studying astronomy.
Kirch benefited from his union with Maria in that he had a wife to take care of his children and an assistant to run calculations, gather data, and otherwise assist him. Meanwhile, Maria was able to continue her education in astronomy. Without their union, it is unlikely that Maria would have been able to participate in astronomy independently.
In 1700, the couple moved to Berlin, as the elector ruler of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
Frederick III, later
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union ( Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...
, had appointed Gottfried Kirch as the Astronomer Royal, a position awarded to an eminent astronomer.
Career, observations, and publications
Women were not afforded journeyman years during their apprenticeship, which left them dependent on those in their household for training.
As a result, Gottfried Kirch gave his wife further instruction in astronomy, as he did for his sister and all his children starting from a young age. Due to societal norms and beliefs of the given time period, women were not allowed to attend universities in Germany. This did not completely exclude woman from practicing astronomy, however, because the work of astronomy and the observation of the heavens took place largely outside the universities.
The majority of astronomers during this time period did not have official degrees in astronomy. Instead, most astronomers boasted degrees in medicine, law, or theology.
Prominent scientific universities in Kirch's time included the French Academie Royal des Sciences, Berlin Akademie der Wissenschaften and the Royal Society of London -all of which catered to a male audience. Thus, Kirch became one of the few women active in astronomy in the 1700s. She became widely known as the ''Kirchin'', the feminine version of the family name. It was not unheard of in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
that a woman should be active in astronomy.
Maria Cunitz
Maria Cunitz or Maria CunitiaCunitz, Maria. "Urania propitia, sive Tabulæ Astronomicæ mirè faciles, vim hypothesium physicarum à Kepplero proditarum complexae; facillimo calculandi compendio, sine ullâ logarithmorum mentione paenomenis sati ...
,
Elisabeth Hevelius
Elisabeth Catherina Koopmann-Hevelius (in Polish called ''Elżbieta Heweliusz''; January 17, 1647–December 22, 1693) is considered one of the first female astronomers. Originally from Danzig, Poland, she contributed to improve the work and obs ...
, and
Maria Clara Eimmart
Maria Clara Eimmart (27 May 1676 – 29 October 1707), was a German astronomer, engraver and designer. She was the daughter and assistant of Georg Christoph Eimmart the Younger.
Biography
Maria Clara Eimmart was a German astronomer born in Nu ...
had been active astronomers in the seventeenth century.
Through an edict, Friedrich III introduced a
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
for calendars in Brandenburg, and later
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, imposing a calendar tax. The income from this monopoly was to pay astronomers and members of the
Berlin Academy of Sciences that Friedrich III founded in July 1700. Friedrich III also went on to build an
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
that was inaugurated in January 1711. Assisted by his wife, Gottfried Kirch prepared the first calendar of a series, entitled ''Chur-Brandenburgischer Verbesserter Calender Auff das Jahr Christi 1701'', which became very popular.
Maria and Gottfried worked together as a team. In typical guild fashion she advanced from her position as Arnold's apprentice, to become assistant to her husband. Her husband had studied astronomy at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
and had served as apprentice to
Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius
Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:
*
*
*
*
*of the Royal Society
* (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...
.
At the academy she worked as his unofficial, but recognised assistant. Women's position in the sciences was akin to their position in the guilds, valued, but subordinate.
Together they made observations and performed calculations to produce calendars and
ephemerides
In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly vel ...
.
From 1697, the Kirchs also began recording weather information. Their data was used to produce calendars and
almanac
An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other ...
s and it was also very useful in navigation. The Academy of Sciences in Berlin handled sales of their calendars.
During the first decade of her work at the academy as her husband's assistant Kirch would observe the heavens, every evening starting at 9 p.m. During such a routine observation she discovered a
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
.
On 21 April 1702 Kirch discovered the so-called "
Comet of 1702" (C/1702 H1).
Today there is no doubt about Kirch's priority in discovering C/1702 H1.
However, at the time her husband was credited with the discovery. In his notes from that night her husband recorded:
"Early in the morning (about 2:00 AM) the sky was clear and starry. Some nights before, I had observed a variable star and my wife (as I slept) wanted to find and see it for herself. In so doing, she found a comet in the sky. At which time she woke me, and I found that it was indeed a comet... I was surprised that I had not seen it the night before".
This comet was actually discovered a day prior by two astronomers in Rome, Italy, Francesco Bianchini and Giacomo Filippo Maraldi.
Germany's only scientific journal at the time, ''
Acta Eruditorum
(from Latin: ''Acts of the Erudite'') was the first scientific journal of the German-speaking lands of Europe, published from 1682 to 1782.
History
''Acta Eruditorum'' was founded in 1682 in Leipzig by Otto Mencke, who became its first editor, ...
'', was in Latin. Kirch's subsequent publications in her own name were all in German. At the time, her husband did not hold an independent chair at the academy and the Kirchs worked as a team on common problems. The couple observed the heavens together: he observed the north and she the south, making observations that a single person could not have conducted accurately.
Kirch continued to pursue her astronomy work, publishing in German under her own name, and with the proper recognition. Her publications, which included her observations on the
Aurora Borealis
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...
(1707), the pamphlet ''Von der Conjunction der Sonne des Saturni und der Venus'' on the conjunction of the sun with
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
and
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
(1709), and the approaching conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 1712 became her lasting contributions to astronomy.
[ Before Kirch, the only female astronomer in the Holy Roman Empire who had published under her own name had been ]Maria Cunitz
Maria Cunitz or Maria CunitiaCunitz, Maria. "Urania propitia, sive Tabulæ Astronomicæ mirè faciles, vim hypothesium physicarum à Kepplero proditarum complexae; facillimo calculandi compendio, sine ullâ logarithmorum mentione paenomenis sati ...
. The family friend and vice president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, Alphonse des Vignoles said in Kirch's eulogy: "If one considers the reputations of Frau Kirch and Frau Cunitz, one must admit that there is no branch of science… in which women are not capable of achievement, and that in astronomy, in particular, Germany takes the prize above all other states in Europe."
In 1709 Berlin Academy of Sciences president Gottfried von Leibniz presented her to the Prussian court, where Kirch explained her sightings of sunspots
Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. ...
. He said about her:
"There is a most learned woman who could pass as a rarity. Her achievement is not in literature or rhetoric but in the most profound doctrines of astronomy... I do not believe that this woman easily finds her equal in the science in which she excels... She favors the Copernican system (the idea that the sun is at rest) like all the learned astronomers of our time. And it is a pleasure to hear her defend that system through the Holy Scripture in which she is also very learned. She observes with the best observers and knows how to handle marvelously the quadrant and the telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
."
After her husband died in 1710, Kirch attempted to assume his place as astronomer and calendar maker at the Royal Academy of Sciences. Her actions were representative of a well established principle that allowed widow's to take over their husbands craft after their death. Despite her petition being supported by Leibniz, the president of the academy, the executive council of the academy rejected her demand for a formal position saying that "what we concede to her could serve as an example in the future." The council did not wish to set a precedent by appointing a woman. Despite the fact that roughly 14% of astronomers in the early 18th century were female, it was still extremely uncommon at the time for women to become members of scientific academies. Winkelmann's denial to the academy was important in that it emphasized the separation between men and women's role in the workplace and the normalcy of women's exclusion to scientific academies at the time and for many years after. In her petition Kirch set out her qualifications for the position. She couched her application in the terms acceptable to the times, arguing that she was well-qualified because she had been instructed by her husband in astronomical calculation and observation. She emphasized that she had engaged in astronomical work since her marriage and had worked at the academy since her husband's appointment ten years earlier. In her petition Kirch said that "for some time, while my dear departed husband was weak and ill, I prepared the calendar from his calculations and published it under his name." For Kirch, an appointment at the academy would have not been just a mark of honor but a vital source of income for her and her children. She even clarified this in her petition, explaining that her husband had not left her with sufficient means in terms of supporting herself and her family. In the old guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
tradition of trades, it would have been possible for Kirch to take over her husband's position after his death, but the new institutions of science tended not to follow that tradition. Despite Maria and Gottfried both having spent years working on calendars and discovering a comet each, the one item Maria did not have that almost everyone in the Academy did was a university education.
Leibniz was the only prominent figure that supported her appeal. Unfortunately, negative opinion towards her gender out weighed her history of competent work. The Berlin Academy of Sciences secretary Johann Theodor Jablonski
Johann Theodor Jablonski (15 December 1654, Danzig (Gdańsk), Royal Prussia, Poland – 28 April 1731, Berlin) was a German educator and lexicographer of Czech origin, who also wrote under the pen name Pierre Rondeau.
Life
Johann Theodor Jabl ...
cautioned Leibniz "that she be kept on in an official capacity to work on the calendar or to continue with observations simply will not do." The academy was very concerned with their reputation, stating, "If she were now to be kept on in such a capacity, mouths would gape even wider." Ultimately, Winklemann's application to work at the Berlin Academy was rejected. Leibniz later tried to secure housing and salary for Winkelmann in 1711 and was able to secure housing for Winkelmann to stay in for an undetermined amount of time, however the Academy denied Leibniz's petition for Winkelmann's salary. Later in 1711, the academy relented upon Maria enough to give her a medal for her work in astronomy. Despite this, Winkelmann continued to apply for over a year to become a member of the Berlin Academy, however with Leibniz leaving Berlin in 1711, the Academy became even more adamant on refusing Maria's entrance until in early 1712 when she received the final rejection.
Kirch felt sure that her petitions were denied due to her gender. This is somewhat supported by the fact that Johann Heinrich Hoffmann
Johann Heinrich Hoffmann (1669 in / Thüringen; April 6, 1716 in Berlin) was a German astronomer.
Life and work
Hoffmann was a student of Erhard Weigel and, until his death in 1699, his (assistant). He accompanied him on his journey of 1696 - ...
, who had little experience, was appointed to her husband's place instead of her. Hoffmann soon fell behind with his work and failed to make required observations. It was even suggested that Kirch become his assistant. Kirch wrote "Now I go through a severe desert, and because... water is scarce... the taste is bitter." However, in an exceptional achievement for the times she was admitted by the Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...
.
In 1711, she published ''Die Vorbereitung zug grossen Opposition'', a well-received pamphlet in which she predicted a new comet, followed by a pamphlet concerning Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
and Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
. In 1712, Kirch accepted the patronage of Bernhard Friedrich von Krosigk, who was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer, and began work in his observator. She and her husband had worked at Krosigk's observatory while the academy observatory was being built. At Krosigk's observatory she reached the rank of ''master'' astronomer.
After Baron von Krosigk died in 1714 Kirch moved to Danzig to assist a professor of mathematics for a short time before returning to Berlin in 1716. Kirch and her son, who had just finished university, received an offer to work as astronomers for the Russian czar Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, but preferred to remain in Berlin where she continued to calculate calendars for locales such as Nuremberg, Dresden, Breslau, and Hungary from her home.
She had trained her son Christfried Kirch
Christfried Kirch (24 December 1694, Guben – 9 March 1740, Berlin) was a German astronomer and almanac publisher.
Life and work
He was born in Guben, Germany the son of the astronomers Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margaretha Kirch. Christfrie ...
and daughters Christine Kirch
Christine Kirch (1696 in Guben, Germany – 6 May 1782), was a German astronomer.
Life
She was the daughter of the astronomers Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margarethe Kirch and the sister of Christfried Kirch. She and her sister Margaretha Kirch we ...
and Margaretha Kirch
Margaretha Kirch (b. ca. 1703, d. after 1744) was a German astronomer.
Early life
She was the daughter of the astronomers Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margarethe Kirch and the sister of Christfried Kirch. She and her sister Christine Kirch
Christi ...
to act as her assistants in the family's astronomical work, continuing the production of calendars and almanacs as well as making observations. In 1716, her son Christfried and Johann Wilhelm Wagner
Johann Wilhelm Wagner (24 November 1681 in Heldburg/Thüringen – 16 December 1745 in Berlin) was a German astronomer.
Life and work
Between 1700 and 1703 he had a position as assistant to Georg Christoph Eimmart at his observatory in Nü ...
were appointed observers at the academy observatory following Hoffmann's death. Kirch moved back to Berlin to act as her son's assistant together with her daughter Christine. She was once again working at the academy observatory calculating calendars. Male academy members complained that she took too prominent a role and was "too visible at the observatory when strangers visit." Kirch was ordered to "retire to the background and leave the talking to... her son." In 1717 the Berlin Academy gave Maria two options, either continue to fight for a position of her own or she could retire in the interests of her son's reputation. She chose to retire and continue her own observations at home, which the Academy requested be nearby so that her son could still dine at home without neglecting his duties at the Academy. Kirch died of a fever in Berlin on 29 December 1720.
Publications
* Kirch, Gottfried; Kirch, Maria Margaretha. ''Das älteste Berliner Wetter-Buch 1700 - 1701''. Edited by G. Hellmann. Berlin, 1893. https://www.digi-hub.de/viewer/resolver?urn=urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-d-4723758
* Kirch, Maria Margaretha. ''Vorbereitung, zur grossen Opposition, oder, Merckwürdige Himmels-Gestalt im 1712 Jahre, worauf im folgenden 1713 ...'' . Cölln an der Spree Druckts Ulrich Liebpert, könighl. Preuss. Hof-Buchdr., 713?http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/319882766
See also
* List of astronomers
The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or technologies within as ...
* Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
* Women in science
The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirch, Maria Margaretha
18th-century German astronomers
Women astronomers
1670 births
1720 deaths
Scientists from Leipzig
People from the Electorate of Saxony
Discoverers of comets
17th-century women scientists
18th-century women scientists
17th-century German astronomers
German women scientists