Margherita Hack: Astrophysicist

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Astronomy, Cosmology, Earth & Space Science

Ed Hessler

I'd never heard of astronomer Margherita Hack, "Italy's first female professor in astronomy, and a fixture on television."  (12 June 1922 - 29 June 2013).

Her bio on Wiki describes her activities, research, political activism, commitment to atheism and other details about a fully packed life.

And just recently she has been immortalized in a statue, an honor I wish she had lived to see (unveiled on June 13). It is lovely a couple of details call attention to her career as a scientist as you will learn in this short article by Davide Castevecchi for the British journal Nature. He writes,  "The statue shows Hack emerging from a vortex, representing the spiral shape of a galaxy. She is pretending to hold and look through a telescope, an inspirational pose she had taken during a photo shoot."

In addition, Castevecchi reports that she has also been honored by the Italian Post office with a commemorative stamp for which see here.

The statue is the work of Elisabetta Cipriana.