"1871. I never look upon the mass of girls going into our dining-room or
chapel without feeling their nobility, the sovereignty of their pure
spirit."
The following letter from Miss Mitchell, though written at a later date,
gives an idea of the practical observing done by her classes:
MY DEAR MISS ----: I reply to your questions concerning the
observatory which you propose to establish. And, first, let me
congratulate you that you begin _small_. A large telescope is a
great luxury, but it is an enormous expense, and not at all
necessary for teaching.... My beginning class uses only a small
portable equatorial. It stands out-doors from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M.
The girls are encouraged to use it: they are expected to
determine the rotation of the sun on its axis by watching the
spots--the same for the planet Jupiter; they determine the
revolution of Titan by watching its motions, the retrograde and
direct motion of the planets among the stars, the position of
the sun with reference to its setting in winter and summer, the
phases of Venus. All their book learning in astronomy should be
mathematical. The astronomy which is not mathematical is what is
so ludicrously called "Geography of the Heavens"--is not
astronomy at all.
My senior class, generally small, say six, is received as a
class, but in practical astronomy each girl is taught
separately.
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