Edward Charles Pickering

Pickering was born in Boston and educated at Harvard University's Lawrence Scientific School. His scientific endeavor included physics, and this made him a brilliant faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for ten years. It also was in this school where he was able to spearhead the construction of the first physics laboratory for instruction in America.

Pickering's interest in physics made it easy for him to specialize and flow into the field of astronomy. Soon he was appointed as chair of the Harvard College Observatory, a position that he held for more than forty years.

More than a dedicated scholar, Pickering was a leader who knew how to shake and move the discipline. He actively searched for ways to incorporate new technologies in photography with astronomy. He raised funds and built partnerships to realize major projects. He prepared a huge body of work for future scientists to use and make sense of. And most of all, he made sure that the public knew the significance of astronomy in the society.

One of Pickering's best astronomic legacies was his in-depth and huge body of photometric work on more than 45,000 stars in space. To achieve such feat, he was said to have manually crafted more than 1.4 million photometric devices.

Ensuring the continuous development of the discipline, Pickering invited a group of young female astronomers to work with him, a group that would be called Pickering's Harem. Its members consisted of the likes of Annie Cannon, Antonia Maury, Williamina Fleming, and Swan Leavitt. The discoveries that the group made were considered as the foundation of the modern theories on cosmological distances.

The last legacy of Pickering was the institution of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. In 1911, an organization that aimed to gather, evaluate, analyze, and share various star observations of astronomers, researchers, and scholars. The organization continues to exist until today, its current membership reaching to more than 2,000 worldwide.

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Plato

Plato is best known for his written work entitled The Dialogues. He spoke of conversations he had with Socrates, his mentor, as the main character. But the conversations did not include any character named Plato. The dialogs may have actually reflected Socrates' ideas, or perhaps Plato's own. Because of the indirect style of the writings, no one can know for sure. Neither Plato's actual or original philosophies are spelled out clearly, but the writings do give an indication of his leanings. This as much can be said: Plato pursued many fields of knowledge, including geometry, mathematics, politics, the arts, education, and of course, philosophy. He tackled questions having to do with ethics, the nature of man, the universe, reality, and mind.

A great accomplishment of Plato was the Academy–a school he founded in about 387 BC and presided over until his death. This became a famous institution of learning. It taught philosophy, mathematics, arts, drama and the sciences, and encouraged research. (As a side note, the word “academy” comes from Academus, a hero in Greek mythology, who lived near Plato's Academy, Hekademeia)

Before being a full-time scholar and academician, Plato served twice in the military and took part in the wars of his time. He found the life of a soldier distasteful, and preferred to be a politician. A turning point for him was the execution of his mentor Socrates. This convinced him to abandon Athenian politics altogether. He traveled to Egypt and parts of Sicily and Italy, where he studied, developed, and shared his philosophy.

During his travels, he was especially impressed with the mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras. When Plato returned, he established the Academy. This flourished for centuries, until 529 AD. Then it was accused of being a pagan institution, which led to its closure. But the Academy did continue, for 900 years, making it the longest-running institution of learning of all time.

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Socrates

While Socrates left no writings of his own, much has been written on him in certain texts. The Dialogues of Plato and the writings of Xenophone (a famous Greek historian) say much about his character and thoughts. Plato, himself a celebrated philosopher, was one of Socrates' many students.

Basically, the Socratic Method encourages having a two-way dialog, rather than listening to lectures, as a more effective way to learn. This was how Socrates himself taught his students. He spoke with them directly, on an equal footing, and encouraged thoughtful questions. This explains why he left no writings. He preferred face-to-face dialog to more solitary pursuits like writing.

Socrates lived in 469-399 BC. He must have been about 71 years old when he died. A not-very-well-known tidbit from his life is that he was a midwife, in addition to being a teacher and a thinker. He too is believed to have been born ugly and maybe even deformed. He did get married and had children. But his true legacy is his strong passion for truth and knowledge. He had high ideals and was unwavering in their support. This, unfortunately, was what led to his demise. He was put up for trial for his political beliefs. In the end, he chose death over having to give up his ideals and live in a society that frowned on free thinking and free speech.

Lauded by many as the wisest person of his time (and perhaps of all times), Socrates made many contributions to ethics and other fields of philosophical study. His ideas on logic and morality hold great sway up to this day. He gave sage advice on how to distinguish right from wrong, and how to deal with both mundane problems and the more profound questions of life and existence.

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Hypatia

Hypatia was born in 370 AD in the center of learning that was Alexandria, Egypt. Her father was Theon, a famous mathematician-philosopher. Undoubtedly, her learned father trained and taught her, and together, they later collaborated in writing certain commentaries to prominent scientific works, such as Ptolemy's comprehensive astronomical writings. On her own, Hypatia herself authored similar commentaries on important writings, making them more accessible and understandable to many people. Examples of these were her commentaries on Apollonius's Conics and Diophantus's Arithmetica.

In time, Hypatia became the director of a Platonist school in Alexandria, and she became a famous teacher and educator. She was an authority on many subjects– primarily philosophy, Neoplatonic thought, mathematics and astronomy–and she is described as a very eloquent and charismatic lecturer.

She also made contributions to the mathematics, and was the first woman to do so. Other scholars asked her advice on many things, including, on some occasions, how to construct an astrolabe and a hydroscope. As a philosopher, she espoused Neoplatonic beliefs. Among these was the belief that ultimate reality was beyond the grasp of human intellect and words, and that it had to be mystically experienced. Nonetheless, her lectures had a very strong scientific emphasis, which made her stand out from earlier advocates of Neoplatonic thought.

Hypatia died in March 415 under gruesome circumstances. Some accounts say that she was murdered by fanatical Christian monks. Others say that she was attacked by an angry religious mob. Apparently, Hypatia was accused of being a witch or a proponent of pagan beliefs. At that time, women who demonstrated great learning and scientific knowhow were apt to be singled out as witches, because their progressive ideas were a threat to the prevailing religious and superstitious way of life.

Hypatia led a life full of fascinating intellectual accomplishments. For many people, she epitomizes the fearless and progressive attitude of a true scholar. She has inspired many modern writers to compose stories, novels and even movies about her.

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Aristotle

Based on his writings, Aristotle believed that the cosmos is round and finite. He believed that the cosmos is round in as much as it has a center, which is the earth. He also believed that the earth is round and smaller than the stars, and that the earth, unlike heavenly bodies, is at rest. Everything else moves around it. This observation, although incorrect, is logical: Aristotle thought that if the earth indeed moves, then the whole scheme of things would turn around. The stars, it would appear, are in their fixed places while the earth is in motion. The philosopher thought this couldn't be.

At least Aristotle was right for one thing: the earth is round. He asserted this belief by arguing that when a person goes to the north or to the south, he or she does not see the same stars in the evening or the same positions of the sky in the day.

Aristotle grew up in a period where people believed in the presence of four basic elements: earth, air, fire and water. The astronomer, however, theorized that a fifth element, which he called aether, serves as the main component of heavenly bodies. He described aether as something that couldn't be combined with other elements or reproduced. It is eternal, unchangeable, and has no sense of weight.
Aristotle also formed his own model of the solar system, wherein he included the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the sun, and the moon. His concern in postulating this system was to make sense how heavenly bodies do not collide against one another.

Aristotle theorized that there are 22 counteracting spheres in the system, and these spheres set all the bodies in balance. Again, as we know it, this is wrong.

Aristotle did not have the devices to discover groundbreaking things about the universe, but he surely made significant contributions to astronomy simply by observing how nature behaved and always being inquisitive about the mysteries of the world.

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