Portman's Role In 'Thor' Highlights Rise Of Women in Astronomy | Women in Science | Natalie Portman & Hollywood Astronomers | LiveScience
Credit: Paradox Blue via flickr Natalie Portman plays an astrophysicist in the recently released movie "Thor," but she is hardly the first Hollywood actress in a leading role as an astronomer.
There were other woman scientist actresses prior to Portman's role in "Thor." Comet-observing Darryl Hannah in the film "Roxanne," and alien-searching Jodie Foster in "Contact," -- but their star turns as astronomers mirror recent progress in the scientific profession itself. Once, women were scarce in astronomy, and confined to low-status, poorly-compensated positions. But their numbers have grown in recent decades, and they've begun to attain important positions and achieve well-deserved scientific recognition.
Henrietta Leavitt of the Harvard College Observatory is the classic example of a woman astronomer achieving renown despite the gender discrimination of her time. In the early 1900s, she was employed at the observatory as a "computer" assigned to the repetitive work of measuring photographic records of thousands of star images on telescopic photographs that were made by male astronomers. She was paid just 30 cents per hour for the seemingly routine task, but she [...]
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This article was provided by Inside Science News Service contributing writer Stephen P. Maran, the author of Astronomy for Dummies. Inside Science News Service is supported by the American Institute of Physics.
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