Oxford recognises Annie Cannons invaluable contribution to astronomy archive, 1925 – The Guardian

The long double file of scarlet-robed doctors which processed, at this years brilliant Commemoration at Oxford, from Wadham, the vice-chancellors College, to the Sheldonian Theatre was, from the feminists point of view, less interesting from its inclusion of the prime minister, the chancellor of the exchequer, Lord Jellicoe, and the archbishop of Canterbury, than from the unique event that it contained a woman.

Miss Annie Cannon, the eminent astronomer from Harvard Observatory, on whom, on June 10, Oxford conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree, walked in procession with her host, Professor Turner, Oxfords Savilian professor of astronomy, and the crowd which had come out to look at the prime minister found its sensation instead in this startling precedent of a woman in a procession consecrated to academic masculinity and distinguished male service.

In honour of her visit to England, Professor Turner gave a lecture at Sommerville on Miss Cannons invaluable contribution to astronomy, and linked it to the wonderful tradition created by Mary Somerville after whom Oxfords famous womens college is named and Caroline Herschel, whose gold medal is now in possession of Girton.

Dr Annie Cannon is to-day carrying on the work of her two famous forerunners. With the help of the spectrum she has classified 25,000 stars in the northern and southern hemisphere according to their heat as well as their substance, distance and velocity. It remained for Professor Eddington to order this accumulated data by his theory that nebula evolve from a low through a high temperature back to a low one again. Thus the aim of William and Caroline Herschel was achieved, and the life of the nebula traced as the life of a planet.

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Oxford recognises Annie Cannons invaluable contribution to astronomy archive, 1925 - The Guardian