ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

How the 1922 total solar eclipse inspired an Australian dairy maid and amateur astronomers

• In Event: Emerging from the Shadow: New Perspectives on Solar Eclipse Expeditions 2

English Abstract

Within the global history of astronomy, the Lick Observatory expedition to Western Australia, organised by William and Elizabeth Campbell, is at the forefront of scientific and historical research about the 1922 total solar eclipse. This is due to the Lick expedition‘s unequivocal proof of Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. Other expeditions set-out from Britain, India and Canada and the Australian State Observatories organised expeditions. These are also significant, but the path of this eclipse swept right across the continent of Australia and my research investigates beyond the protagonists to uncover contributions by lesser-known individuals, including women and First Nations Peoples.

This presentation examines the 1922 eclipse in Queensland, focussing on Stanthorpe, the unceded land of the Kambuwal People. Driven by curiosity and a desire to participate, inexperienced local observers, including a young female dairy farmer, recorded their interpretations and these, as well as the scientific observations by amateur astronomers, who were members of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association, are discussed. Although it occurred over a century ago, this eclipse is of contemporary interest in considering how to elicit and record scientific observations made by non-scientists at major astronomical events.

Author

• Toner Marie Stevenson, The University of Sydney