The Resume

(December 11, 1863-April 13, 1941)
Born in Dover, Delaware
Obtained and analyzed the spectra of 230,000 stars
Discovered 800 variable stars
With Professor Edward Pickering developed the Harvard System for stellar classification
System formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union (1922)

Why she might be annoying:

She adopted a system that had designated the stars by letters from A to O, then rearranged them by temperature and dropped several letters, producing the awkward-looking sequence O,B,A,F,G,K,M for stellar classification.
Despite her accomplishments, Harvard initially rejected her for a faculty position, appointing her Curator of Astronomical Photographs instead (1911).
She was rejected for membership in the National Academy of Sciences, ostensibly because of her deafness rather than her gender.

Why she might not be annoying:

She lost most of hearing during a bout of scarlet fever.
Her photos and essays about a trip to Spain were published as 'In the Footsteps of Columbus' and distributed as a souvenir at the Chicago World's Fair (1893).
For her work cataloging stars, she earned 25 cents an hour, less than the secretaries at Harvard.
She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Oxford University (1925).
She was named one of the twelve greatest living women by the League of Women Voters (1929).
Harvard eventually appointed her to the faculty as university astronomer (1938).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 19th Century Scientists
• 20th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 51]
• Google Modified Its Logo For My Birthday (Google Doodles)
• I Attended Wellesley College
• I Died in 1941 (Ranked: 77)
• I'm Deaf or Hard of Hearing
• Insider’s Most Powerful Woman from Every State [2022] (Ranked: 8)
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• National Women's Hall of Fame (Ranked: 1994)
• Photographers
• Profiles 35001-35250 (Ranked: 35219)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying