Between glass plates and philanthropic funding: gender, materiality, and the collective construction of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram – contributions of The Glass Universe to physics education

The Cultural History of Science intertwines with diverse social and political markers in order to interpret scientists’ trajectories and the fundamental material and symbolic dimensions of science. However, its incorporation into physics teaching, education and science communication remains a challenge. This study aims, through a dialogue with Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe, to present and critically examine issues of gender, materiality, and philanthropic funding in the history of astrophysics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular attention to the role of philanthropic funding and the work of the Women Computers at the Harvard Observatory in the development of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, one of the most significant achievements in stellar astrophysics. The analyzed narratives are interpreted from a Cultural History perspective, in dialogue with contributions from the literature. The results contribute to the development of more critical and contextualized approaches to the teaching, education and science communication of physics and astronomy, emphasizing that the physical sciences are human constructions situated in space and time.

Keywords:
Women in Science; History of Science; Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram; Astronomy Education; Physics Teaching