Mary Acworth Evershed
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Mary Acworth Evershed (; 1 January 1867 – 25 October 1949) was a British astronomer and scholar. Her work on
Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
was written under the pen name M.A. Orr.


Early life

Mary Acworth Orr was born to Lucy Erskine Acworth (1841–1904) and Andrew Orr (''ca.'' 1830–1870) on 1 January 1867 at
Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth, Devon. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and commands views of Pl ...
. Her father was an officer in the Royal Artillery, who married in 1859. Mary grew up in
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and South Stoke in Somerset. Mary’s youngest brother was the colonial administrator Charles William James Orr. When she was 20, Orr travelled abroad with her sisters and, when in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
(1888–1890) began a study of the works of
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
, which led to her lifelong interest in astronomical references in Dante's poems.


Astronomical career

In 1890, Orr moved with her family to Australia. She found there was no good guide to the southern stars, so wrote ''An Easy Guide to the Southern Stars'', with the encouragement of
John Tebbutt John Tebbutt (25 May 1834 – 29 November 1916) was an Australian astronomer and meteorologist, famous for discovering the Great Comets of C/1861 J1, 1861 and C/1881 K1, 1881. Early life Tebbutt was born at Windsor, New South Wales, the only son ...
, the leading astronomer in Australia at the time. In 1895, she moved back to England and met fellow British astronomer
John Evershed John Evershed CIE FRS FRAS (26 February 1864 – 17 November 1956) was an English astronomer. He was the first to observe radial motions in sunspots, a phenomenon now known as the Evershed effect. Biography Evershed was born in Gomsha ...
when they both participated in an expedition to view a
total solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
of 9 August 1896 in Norway Orr subsequently joined the
British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborat ...
(BAA). At this time, the BAA enjoyed the membership of intellectual women barred from the (then) all-male
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
. During this time, she became friends with Agnes Clerke and Annie Scott Dill Maunder, both notable for their contributions to historical astronomy. Orr married Evershed in 1906. Up to this time, he had worked as an industrial chemist with solar physics as a hobby but, in 1906, was offered a post as assistant astronomer at Kodaikanal Observatory in India. Mary and John moved to
Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () (English: ) is a municipality and hill station in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at an altitude of in the Palani hills of the Western Ghats. Kodaikanal was established in 1845 to serve as a r ...
(visiting notable astronomical locations in the United States on the way) to allow him to take up the post in 1907.Tracy Daugherty
"Passion for Poetry and Stars Drove 'Dante's Astronomer'"
Oregon State University, Spring 2009.
While in India, Mary collected plants from the region, which were ultimately deposited in the
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herbarium. While at Kodaikanal, Mary completed an index to the library at the observatory. In 1909, she is recorded as measuring the position angles and heights of solar prominences from photographs taken at the observatory’s spectroheliograph. In 1915, she accompanied her husband on an astronomical expedition to Srinagar in Kashmir. In 1916, Mary was elected to the membership of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is an American scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889, immediately following the solar eclipse of January 1, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on ...
. On the 9 May 1924 as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Lastly, she directed the BAA’s Historical Section from its inception in 1930 to 1944. Throughout her life, Evershed travelled to numerous
solar eclipses A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...
, including
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in
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,
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in
1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...
,
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in
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,
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in
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, and
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/
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in
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.


Dante scholarship

Evershed was also greatly interested in poetry, and while she loved Dante's work, she was worried about his
cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...
. Her 1914 book ''Dante and the Early Astronomers'' helped clarify Dante's science, as accurate as it could be given existing knowledge.


Bibliography

* ''Two Letters Addressed to the Bishop of Ripon, on Secularism, the Holy Scriptures, and the Geographical Position of the Garden of Eden'' (1876) * ''Easy Guide to Southern Stars'' (1896) * ''Southern Stars: A Guide to the Constellations Visible in the Southern Hemisphere'', preface by John Tebbutt, with a miniature star atlas (London, 1896) * ''Black Star-Lore.''
Journal of the British Astronomical Association The ''Journal of the British Astronomical Association'' is a peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal of astronomy published by the British Astronomical Association since October 1890. It is currently Editor-in-chief, edited by Philip Jennings ...
, vol. 9 (1898), pp.68-70 * ''Variable Stars of Long Period.'' Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 15 (1905), pp.129-132 * ''Dante and Mediaeval Astronomy.'' The Observatory vol. 34 (1911), p. 440 (as Mr. and Mrs. Evershed) * ''Some Types of Prominences Associated with Sun-Spots.''
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 ...
, vol. 73 (1913), p. 422 * ''The Origin of the Constellations.'' The Observatory vol. 36 (1913), p. 179 * ''Dante and the Early Astronomers.'' Gall & Inglis (1914) * ''The Sea-goat.'' The Observatory vol. 37 (1914), p. 322 * ''Stars of the Southern Skies.'' Longmans, Green & Co. (1915) * ''Results of Prominence Observations.'' Memoirs of the Kodaikanal Observatory, vol. 1, pt. 2 (1917), (as J and M A Evershed) * ''Recent Work at Arcetri.'' The Observatory vol. 58 (1932), p. 254 (as Mr. and Mrs. Evershed) * ''Arab Astronomy.'' The Observatory vol. 58 (1935), p. 237 * ''Who's Who in the Moon.'' Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association vol. 34 (1938), pt. 1, pp. 1-130. (an index to named
lunar crater Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, all of which were formed by impacts. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes 9,137 craters, of which 1,675 have been dated. History The wo ...
s)


Awards and honours

* 1924 – Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
* 1971 - The minor planet 12628 Acworthorr is discovered and named after Evershed.


References


Further reading

* Mary T. Brück, "Mary Ackworth Evershed née Orr (1867–1949), solar physicist and Dante scholar", ''Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage'' (ISSN 1440-2807), Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 45–59 (1998). * Mary T. Brück, "Mary Ackworth Orr Evershed", ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers'', v.5, pp. 351–352. * Tracy Daugherty, "Passion for Poetry and Stars Drove 'Dante's Astronomer'", Oregon State University, Spring 2009. * Tracy Daugherty, "Dante and the Early Astronomer", Yale University Press, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Evershed, Mary Acworth 1867 births 1949 deaths 19th-century British astronomers Dante scholars 20th-century British astronomers Historians of astronomy British women astronomers