Talk:Harvard Computers

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Steel500.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:09, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kadyb9, Mnwfk2. Peer reviewers: Shikele, Lizcarrano.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:09, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

New picture with wrong description?

The current picture ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Astronomer_Edward_Charles_Pickering%27s_Harvard_computers.jpg ), while bigger and more clear, has the wrong description probably. It lists Pickering as being on the left standing. There's no male in this picture.

At http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/alumni/antonia-maury.html, there's an image http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1099/4725011794_a8b5897aff.jpg which shows Pickering in the image. I'm guessing it's a different picture since some of the female associates are in different poses.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough to really make an educated change. D:

DrSlump (talk) 14:58, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

I also noticed that when I was reading it. I think the description for the two women was correct so I just removed the section that mentioned that Pickering was in the picture.JonKush (talk) 13:16, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Looks like there is a version of the image of the women working on Harvard's website with an alternative attribution of people https://hea-www.harvard.edu/~fine/Observatory/newest.html (see fourth image down).

From left to right:

possibly Mabel Stevens unknown Antonia Maury possibly Eve Leland (seated) Williamina Fleming unknown unknown probably Florence Cushman — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:630:E4:4220:3C76:9765:98B2:81F7 (talk) 13:32, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

I updated the caption to remove the reference to "Pickering's Harem" as there's really no evidence that they were contemporaneously referred to that way and it's not relevant to the photo at all. Also used terminology "Women Astronomical Computers" as it's preferred by the Harvard College Observatory - https://platestacks.cfa.harvard.edu/women-at-hco Dbouquin (talk) 01:51, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Complete Mess

This web page is a complete mess. Pickering was not the first to hire women at the Observatory. He took on the position of director after at least five other women had been hired. The "maid" story about Fleming is apocryphal. This "harem effect" nonsense seems to completely rely on one single source who has nothing but supposition in her own articles to describe this effect. Battling McGook (talk) 19:26, 15 September 2015 (UTC)

So...what are the other factors?

"It seems that several factors contributed to Pickering's decision to hire women instead of men."

And then it goes on to list only one. So if there are "several" factors, what are they? Alialiac (talk) 21:45, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

Has it been considered to add subsections of the specific computers and their accomplishments? Mnwfk2 (talk) 16:51, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

Timeline and Names

It would be interesting to have a timeline of the various women who worked for Pickering, with their names (of course!), hiring date, and leaving date, whenever these are known. Does anybody have access to suitable sources? CielProfond (talk) 00:24, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Changes

u/Kadyb9 and I are planning to make some major changes to the article. We have reorganized the structure to include individual sections for some of the computers, as well as added some information. The changes may take some time and several edits, so we would appreciate your patience. Some of the sections are also rather small, but will be expanded upon in the next few weeks. Mnwfk2 (talk) 15:18, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

When and how did the Harvard Computers end?

When and how did the Harvard Computers end? I think the history section of this article could be improved by providing information on when and how the group ended. Katarinakeller (talk) 17:51, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

@Katarinakeller, that's a good question! Perhaps you can find some sources that discuss that and then you can improve the article? Schazjmd (talk) 18:09, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Contributions

Why are the women's history discussed but not their major contributions? ~~~~ HurleyBilla (talk) 17:51, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

@HurleyBilla, that's a good question! Perhaps you can find some sources that discuss that and then you can improve the article? Schazjmd (talk) 18:09, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: History of Science

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 January 2025 and 9 May 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JulienHanson8244, Katarinakeller, Connorb08, HurleyBilla (article contribs). Peer reviewers: AcademicPlum30, NicoEroles, ZeildenLikesOranges.

— Assignment last updated by K8shep (talk) 21:09, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

Adding information

I am adding a sentence with some more background information on Pickering in the history section, a few sentences on Mrs. Draper, Maury, and Cannon in their own sections.Katarinakeller (talk) 16:21, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

Adding Henry Draper Catalog

I will be adding a paragraph about each of the computers work on the Henry Draper Catalog. JulienHanson8244 (talk) 16:31, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

History Section

I will be adding relevant information to the history Section. HurleyBilla (talk) 16:42, 18 April 2025 (UTC)

I added more information to the history section describing photographic plate technology.HurleyBilla (talk) 22:36, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

I added an image into the history Section.HurleyBilla (talk) 16:38, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

I added more information to the history section referencing an added source.HurleyBilla (talk) 17:11, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

Later years of the Computers

I added a section about some of the computers and women who worked in the Harvard observatory in the years 1930-50. There are probably more; I added the ones that I could find. JulienHanson8244 (talk) 16:34, 25 April 2025 (UTC)