I had no serious interest in science before I entered Swarthmore as an undergraduate. While there, I was forced to decide between majoring in mathematics or french, choosing mathematics. Because I did not have the finances to pay tuition I worked almost constantly either as a math tutor or at doing grade averaging which at that time was done by hand. Men could apply for a much broader range of jobs while 'proper' jobs for women were quite limited. I did not have any hobbies, nor was there much free time for levity. There was always the steady unrelenting pressure to work long hours every day to earn enough money to stay in school. I really missed out on all of the usual after-hours activities that many of my friends participated in. But, life has its compensations and I gained much from this experience.
My first good look at the stars came while I was an undergraduate. I can still recall how surprised and delighted I was to discover that stars had different colors, some red, some blue. It took me completely by surprise that Arcturus was deep red and Vega was blue-white. I do not know how anyone can ignore the beauty of the heavens on a clear night. It has been a deeply moving experience for me all of my life.
After receiving my baccalaureate degree in mathematics in 1920, I took several years off to work before entering graduate school at U.C. Berkeley. I do not recommend this to anyone wishing to continue on to graduate school. It is just too hard to get back into the academic frame of mind after having been away for any appreciable length of time. While at Berkeley I did receive a fellowship to continue in astronomy. Although by that time I wanted to specialize in spectroscopy, I wound up working at Berkeley with Prof. Leuschner who specialized in celestial mechanics and orbit theory. Even though I have to confess that I was no credit to his department, I admired the genius of Prof. Leuschner greatly and valued him as a friend. In those days, to receive a Ph.D in astronomy at Berkeley, it was required that each candidate calculate at least one orbit for whatever asteroid or comet could be observed. The best students could usually get reliable observations and by working all night, calculate by hand the orbital elements by the following morning. All of my experience had been in spectroscopy, but, fortunately, I was paired with an experienced student.
It happened that I shared in the calculation of two orbits -- one of an asteroid and one of a comet. In both cases we failed to derive the first orbit within twenty-four hours after discovery, which was our goal. It turned out that the three observations of each object did not belong to the same object in either case. We had to wait for more observations and, consequently, defaulted on the time requirement. In spite of the delay no discredit was recorded against us, for which I was most grateful.
After receiving my Ph.D in 1931, I returned to spectroscopy at Princeton and continued work on identifying the lines in the solar spectrum, a task that turned into a life-long project for me. It was exciting work from the beginning, thousands of lines to identify with known elements, a thrilling and fascinating experience much like putting together an enormous crossword puzzle. Eventually, I published a compendium of multiplets of classified spectral lines observed in the laboratory, which is still widely used. It was always a source of regret to me that the original Multiplet Table could not be published as a well- bound book with hard cover. By today, I am sure that the existing copies are falling apart from overuse.
I must admit that while I was pursuing my career, women were short-changed in astronomy. They were, at times, used as cheap labor, although Berkeley, as a co-educational institution, was less prejudicial. There is no comparison between yesterday's experiences and those of the present woman astronomy student. More fellowships and diverse jobs are available now than ever before. There does not seem to be much overt prejudice against women as there was in the early days.
I do worry that the younger generation has become too dependent on computers and that they may not have a sound enough background in the three R's. I think they would be appalled at the discipline in the older lower grade schools. At the little country school that I attended, if a student got restless before school was dismissed, the teacher would assign a hard, long division problem to be finished before he could leave. We did not have television or radios, and movies were a rarity, so we played educational games. For instance, my parents would read a passage from a book and we would have to name the author! This was actually an exciting game and we were never bored.