Ida Barney

Ida Barney (November 6, 1886 – March 7, 1982) was an American

Early life

Barney was born on November 6, 1886, in New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother was Ida Bushnell Barney and her father was Samuel Eben Barney.^[1] She was an avid

From 1911–1912, just after receiving her Ph.D., Barney was a mathematics professor at Rollins College. At the conclusion of that year, she moved to her alma mater to Smith College, where she was an instructor of mathematics. In 1917, she was hired as a professor at Lake Erie College, where she stayed until 1919. In 1920, she returned to Smith College as an assistant professor. In 1922, the Yale University Observatory appointed Barney as a research assistant, a title she held until 1949, when she was promoted to research associate.^[1] The Observatory, like many other university observatories, was allocating significant resources to astronomy, thanks to the development of telescope-mounted cameras. At the beginning of her career in astronomy, Barney worked under Frank Schlesinger; she plotted the position of stars from photographic plates and worked on the calculations of their celestial coordinates from their positions on the plates.^[5] The work was tedious, which Schlesinger thought to be suitable for women incapable of theoretical research.^[6] Despite this influence, she developed several methods that increased both the accuracy and speed of astronomic measurements, including the use of a machine that automatically centered the photographic plates.^[3]

In 1941, when Schlesinger retired, Barney took over full supervision of the cataloguing. Under her direction, the measurements of the photographic plates were completed at the IBM Watson Scientific Laboratory using a new electronic device that advanced the reduction of eye strain and increased accuracy.

The Women's Centennial Congress was organized by Carrie Chapman Catt, November 25–27, 1940, to celebrate a century of female progress. To demonstrate those advances, 100 "successful women" were invited to represent the respective fields of study in which they were working in 1940, but that would have been impossible for them in 1840. Barney was listed under "Science" with Margaret Mead and Annie Jump Cannon, among others. The 100 women chosen were "all American, alive and doing jobs that would have been impossible for a woman to undertake in 1840."^[7]

Honors

While a research associate at the Yale University Observatory, in 1952, Barney was awarded the triennial

Asteroid 5655 Barney, discovered by Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in 1973, was named in her honor.^[10]

Published works

• Barney, Ida;
  doi:10.1086/104785
  .
• Barney, Ida;
  doi:10.1086/105000
  .
• Barney, Ida;
  doi:10.1086/105478
  .
• Barney, Ida;
  doi:10.1086/105546
  .
• Barney, Ida;
  doi:10.1086/105625.^[A]

• List of Minor Planets 5001–6000, #5655
• List of minor planets named after people
• Meanings of minor planet names: 5501–6000

References

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

• Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy, American Astronomical Society, 2012, archived from the original on 29 January 2013, retrieved 20 November 2012
• "General Notes",
  S2CID 250802966
• "(5655) Barney", Dictionary of Minor Planet Names,
  ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7
  , retrieved August 18, 2023
• Hoffleit, E. Dorrit (June 1990), "Ida M. Barney, Ace Astrometrist" (PDF), STATUS: The Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, American Astronomical Society, archived from the original
  (PDF) on 5 April 2016, retrieved 17 November 2012
• Milite, George A. (1999), Pamela Proffitt (ed.), "Ida Barney", Notable Women Scientists, Farmington Hills, Michigan:
  ISBN 978-0-7876-3900-6
• ISBN 978-0-415-92038-4
• Slight-Gibney, Nancy (1997), Barbara S. Shearer; Benjamin F. Shearer (eds.), "Ida Barney", Notable Women in the Physical Sciences: A Biographical Dictionary, Westport, Connecticut:
  ISBN 978-0-313-29303-0
• Smith, Horace A. (2009). "Schlesinger, Frank". In Hockey, Thomas (ed.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers.
  ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0
  . Retrieved August 18, 2023. (subscription required)