Bright Star: Beatrice Hill Tinsley, Astronomer
Christine Cole Catley
3.87
30 ratings10 reviews
A New Zealand hero brought out of obscurity in this fascinating 445 page biography by author Christine Cole Catley.Beatrice Hill Tinsley showed astronomers new ways of thinking and taught teachers new ways of teaching. A lover of nature and a conservationist who idealised New Zealand, she was also a musician, a feminist, a battler for zero growth population growth and a champion of the oppressed.Her life is a classic study in the interaction of nature and nurture, genetics and environment. It is also an inspiring and unforgettable picture of a girl determined to be a scientist who grows up in provincial New Zealand and wins through to world renown.
GenresNonfictionBiographyScienceAstronomy
445 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Octavia Cade
Author 88 books125 followers
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August 22, 2017
An extremely well-written biography of the New Zealand astronomer Beatrice Tinsley. Notable mostly for its sympathetic treatment of the subject, especially as Tinsley was in many ways held back in her pursuit of science by sexism, especially in how supportive she was expected to be as wife and mother while getting very little support in return. Thankfully for science, she got herself out of the backblocks of 1960s/70s Texas and off to Yale, where she immediately made an impact.
This is such an easy book to read - the writing is polished and friendly, the subject exceptionally entertaining - a really fascinating character. I was absolute engrossed. There is, however, one glaring gap. Nowhere in the book is there an exploration of Tinsley's research - not on even the barest level. It's made clear that she's a huge innovator in studying the evolution of galaxies, but not only am I left with little to no understanding of the particulars, I am left with the suspicion that Cole Catley knows nothing of them either.
biography new-zealand science
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Raffaella
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March 26, 2017
Great story well researched and well written, I love what's up and out there ( a favourite is perfect storm) I even enjoy and understand the scientific info although I don't retain them of course.
I love biographies.
Am reading now in Italian the conscience of Zeno written by Italo Svevo who was a great friend of James Joyce,
Thank you
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Josephine Draper
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March 18, 2024
I do love a biography and so perhaps I am biased. I also very much enjoyed the subject - a brilliant female scientist, who, bizarrely, I had never heard of.
Beatrice Tinsley (nee Hill) was an astronomer at the forefront of research into the universe, and how galaxies form and evolve. Her brilliance now can be easily measured in how prolific a writer she was, publishing 11 scientific papers in 1978, for example. She is an easy person to admire, being extraordinarily driven by her passion. It makes for a compelling story - you know she's going to get there, somehow, after growing up in provincial New Zealand. But how she ends up a professor of astronomy, at the forefront of galactic modelling in Yale, in the 1970s, a time when women were still struggling to be taken seriously, is a compelling tale.
What I enjoyed about her story is how incredibly productive she was. The parts in the early 1960s where she is trying to bring up two children, as well as working as an academic, are astounding, considering that at that time both she and her husband expected her to do all of the domestic chores (presumably in accordance with the social mores of the day). She would squeeze value out of every moment, working in the mornings and the evenings.
I won't spoil the story, but of course, it is a fact written on the back of the book that Beatrice Tinsley died very young, of melanoma, and this is surely at least partly why she is now remembered, because her brilliance is undimmed. "Age shall not weary them", as Binyon said. In her case, she went at the peak of her powers, a beloved professor whose commitment to science brought many graduate students along with her. The book is full of stories of how she would introduce students to people who could help them, and how her brilliant (though sometimes exposing) critiques would improve others' work. There's surely a big pinch of the obsessive compulsive in Beatrice, but despite her quirks and the fact she sometimes came across as insensitive in the interests of science, she was also a deeply caring person who loved her children, music, and above all, the science of astronomy.
A powerful book about a woman who should have accomplished more. It's easy to speculate about Nobel prizes, but I can't help thinking she would have got there if she hadn't been struck down in her prime. The last line of her obituary states:
For her the pain of having to depart from the world at the height of her career was eased just a little by the realisation that she was doing so in the full glow of attention and recognition, rather than as a forgotten relic of a past era.
I won't lie - this biography made me shed a tear or two about a woman who died more than forty years ago.
biography new-zealand non-fiction
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Synøve
17 reviews
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August 17, 2022
Beatrice was clearly a very driven, interesting person, but the book was incredibly incredibly long for a relatively short life. I would've probably enjoyed it more if the writing was a little tighter.
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Tiffany
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July 25, 2011
A truly in-depth account of an all too short life. (Scarily in-depth! Such a huge amount of research obviously went into this book. I couldn't help wondering what Beatrice would have thought though of us poring over the intimate details of her life.) The scientific world lost a very bright star (pun intended) when Beatrice died. And to die from skin cancer; what a horribly mundane and tragic way for such an extraordinary life to have been cut short. I didn't know much at all about Beatrice before reading this book so it was very educational. Her accomplishments deserve to be more well-known and celebrated in New Zealand. A great book; a long and at times challenging read but fascinating nonetheless.
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Philippa
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October 12, 2012
I can't believe more New Zealanders don't know about this genius astronomer who hailed from our shores. An interesting study of a woman's career that was initially stymied by her being a woman, but clearly she made a huge contribution to astronomy and cosmology.
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Sue Webber
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July 16, 2014
I gave up before I even got to 100 pages, I don't dispute that a huge amount of research went into this. The trouble is it is so in depth that I got very bored with it. A shame as I would have liked to have finished it.
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Emily Atamoana
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August 9, 2014
One of the best books I have ever read. Fascinating, poignant, emotional.
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Arna
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January 2, 2017
A book club book, about a woman I find intimidating, however brilliant she was.
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