Mary Teresa Brück (née Conway; 29 May 1925 – 11 December 2008) was an Irish astronomer, astrophysicist and historian of science, whose career was spent at

Dunsink Observatory The Dunsink Observatory is an astronomical observatory established in 1785 in the townland of Dunsink in the outskirts of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Alexander Thom''Irish Almanac and Official Directory''7th ed., 1850 p. 258. Retrieved: 2011-0 ...

in Dublin and the Royal Observatory

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in Scotland.

Early life

Mary Teresa Conway was born on 29 May 1925 in

Ballivor Ballivor (Help:IPA/English, /'bælaɪvər/ Pronunciation respelling for English, BAL-eyevər; ) is a village in County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It had a population of 1,809 at the 2016 census of Ireland, 2016 census. It is on the R15 ...

, County Meath, Ireland, the eldest of eight children. She used the Irish form of her name, Máire Treasa Ní Chonmhidhe, while attending convent school, where she showed talents for mathematics, science and music, and at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

where she studied physics. She earned BSc and MSc degrees, in 1945 and 1946, respectively.

Astronomer

Mary Conway was a postgraduate at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

(Scotland), where she carried out research in solar astrophysics, culminating in the award of a PhD in 1950. Her doctoral supervisor was fellow Irish-born scientist Mervyn Archdall Ellison, then a principal scientific officer at the

Royal Observatory, Edinburgh The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an Astronomy, astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Cen ...

. Conway returned to Dublin to work at the

. The observatory had reopened as a research institute in 1947 when it was transferred to the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

, and the German-born astronomer Hermann Brück (1905–2000) had been appointed as the new Director. Conway and Hermann Brück, a widower with two children, married in 1951, after which she took the name Mary Brück. She had three additional children with him. Hermann Brück was appointed Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1957 and the family moved to Edinburgh. Brück was appointed a part-time lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1962. She subsequently became a full-time lecturer and was promoted to senior lecturer. Mary Brück carried out research into

stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

, the

interstellar medium The interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the outer space, space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as cosmic dust, dust and cosmic rays. It f ...

and the

Magellanic Clouds The Magellanic Clouds (''Magellanic system'' or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both ...

. Some of this made use of photographic observations from the United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She used the numbers, brightnesses and colours of stars in the Magellanic Clouds to study the structure and evolution of these nearby galaxies. She published widely in the ''

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in astronomy, astrophysics and related fields. It publishes original research in two formats: papers (of any length) and letters (limited to ...

'', ''Publications of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh'', ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' and ''

Astronomy and Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors re ...

''. In 2001, she was awarded the Lorimer Medal of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh in recognition of meritorious work in diffusing the knowledge of Astronomy among the general public. In July 2017,

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

named a building after Dr. Mary Brück in recognition of her contributions to science. The Mary Brück Building at the

was also named in her honour.

Historian of science

Mary Brück collaborated with her husband on a biography of the 19th-century Astronomer Royal for Scotland,

Charles Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was a British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan Piazzi Smyth, hi ...

. She developed a reputation as an historian of science, specialising in the work of women in astronomy, and the history of astronomy in Scotland and Ireland. She published articles in several different journals, including the Irish Astronomical Journal, the

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Astronomy & Geophysics'' (''A&G'') is a scientific journal and trade magazine published on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) by Oxford University Press. It is distributed bimonthly to members of the RAS. A&G publishes content of i ...

, the

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage The ''Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal. As of 2021, the journal is published four times per year and is logged through the Astrophysics Data System. It publishes research papers, reviews, short co ...

and the Antiquarian Astronomer. She sat on the editorial board of the Antiquarian Astronomer. Mary Brück wrote a book on

Agnes Mary Clerke Agnes Mary Clerke (10 February 1842 – 20 January 1907) was an Irish astronomer and writer. She was born in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, and died in London. Family Agnes Clerke was the daughter of John William Clerke (c. 1814–1890) w ...

, the prominent 19th-century Irish woman astronomer, author and commentator on science, ''Agnes Mary Clerke and the Rise of Astrophysics''. This was followed by ''Women in Early British and Irish Astronomy: Stars and Satellites'', which described the work of women astronomers, many of whom had been overlooked previously. Mary Brück contributed five articles to the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, and six to the

Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers The ''Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers'' (''BEA'') is a two-volume biographical dictionary, first published in 2007, with a second edition released in 2014. The work covers astronomers from all geographies, born from antiquity to mid-191 ...

.Search for Brück as an author in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography at Oxforddnb.com/. Retrieved 26 January 2016. She is also the author of the classic 1965 Ladybird book, ''The Night Sky''.

References

External links

*
Astronomer and historian of astronomy: Mary Brück

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

, 17 February 2009
Brück, Máire Treasa : Death notice

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

Obituary: Dr. Mary Brück
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (ISSN 1440-2807), Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 81 – 83 (2009). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruck, Mary Theresa 1925 births 20th-century women scientists 20th-century Irish astronomers 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century Irish women writers 2008 deaths Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Historians of astronomy Irish non-fiction writers Irish women non-fiction writers Women astronomers Women science writers People from County Meath Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century non-fiction writers Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Alumni of University College Dublin Irish astrophysicists