Haida Liang
Early Life
Haida grew up in Shanghai, China but moved to Sydney, Australia to finish school. At first, she struggled to understand the Australian accent, despite speaking English. This meant that she enjoyed maths and physics classes most because the equations were universal. At university, she started a medical degree, as she thought if you got good grades that’s what you should study. She soon missed physics and maths and transferred to the physics department.
Research Areas: Imaging and Sensing, Conservation, Science and Art
"I’m working on the boundary between optical imaging and history… physics and history are the two things that I love."
Anthony Aveni
Early Life
Anthony grew up in West Haven, Connecticut in the USA and attended a poor inner-city school. He went to Boston University where he just passed his degree in physics. Anthony went on to study for a PhD at the University of Arizona, working on the new telescope at Kitt Peak. During this time, Anthony and his wife were struggling to get by, and so he started to look for jobs which earned more money. He managed to get a position at Colgate University and moved across the country to New York State.
Year born: 1938
Research Areas: Archaeoastronomy, Ancient Astronomy in the Americas, Mayans
Jarita Holbrook
Early Life
Jarita was born in Hawaii and grew up in California in the USA. They are from a family with strong academic links (both parents got science degrees) and Jarita decided to follow in their parents' footsteps and studied physics at Caltech. Jarita went on to get a PhD in astrophysics from the University of California, investigating star formation.
Year born: 1965
Research Areas: History, Cultural Studies of Astronomy, African Indigenous Astronomy
Allan Chapman
Early Life
Allan was born in Swinton, Lancashire in the north of England. As a child, he was always interested in tinkering and making things. He made his own telescope when he was 11 and used it to look at the Moon. He was from a working-class family and career options were limited. When he left school without qualifications, he was expected to start work in a local factory. Instead, Allan decided to get a job in a local library.
Year born: 1946
Research Areas: History of Science, History of Astronomy, Broadcasting
Stargazing
Astronomy relies heavily on maths and statistics. These tools help scientists test and support ideas.
Today, astronomers do not always look through telescopes. They also use powerful computers. Scientists write computer programmes that follow the laws of physics. These programmes create models of the Universe. The models can run forwards and backwards in time.
In astrophysics, scientists combine observations with computer simulations. Using both together makes theories more reliable.
One of the most obvious careers linked to space and astronomy is studying the stars.
This involves observing the Universe and interpreting physical processes.
Numbers
Astrophysicists apply their knowledge of maths to solve problems about the Universe. They collect information using telescopes, and use maths and statistics to interpret the information. Astrophysicists also use mathematical models and formulas to understand the physics of the Universe. We would not have been able to discover black holes or know that the Universe is expanding without maths.
Astronomers use numbers all the time (especially really big ones!). Astronomy grew out of solving problems about time and distance.
History
Perhaps you are more interested in history but like astronomy as a hobby? Well, there are careers looking at the history of astronomy, both ancient and modern.
If you love history and astronomy, then these jobs might interest you: Historian (Astronomy, Science or Cultural), Author, Museum Curator, Librarian, Archaeoastronomer, Conservationist, Anthropologist. Many people working in this field, work in both a physics and an arts department.
You may think that astronomy, a science, and history are poles apart. In fact, many astronomers love history, and many historians are interested in space.