Physics; X-ray Astronomy Research

Summary

After graduating in 1971 from Sweet Home Senior High School in suburban Buffalo, New York (where I took four years of math, including calculus), I attended Brandeis University near Boston, Massachusetts. Originally, I planned to become a psychology major; however, my first class quickly changed my mind! I had been a vegetarian since the age of 16, and most of the class dealt with dissecting cat's brains to figure out how their vision worked. I decided I was too squeamish for such work (and for medicine) and changed my major to chemistry.

So I spent the next three years as an undergraduate in physical chemistry research. It was exciting work, but very painstaking. A small mistake (e.g., a spilled solution or incorrect measurement) would mean redoing the entire day's work.

At the same time, Brandeis had just entered the field of computer science, purchasing its first mainframe computer and offering computer classes. I became interested in computers because there were many job opportunities available on campus. I also liked the fact that, if I made a mistake, I could just correct the program and continue with my work, without losing all that time and effort.

In those days, few women were majoring in chemistry or computer science, and Brandeis had no women professors for either of these subjects. The computer courses counted towards a physics major, as did many of my chemistry courses, so I ended up with a double major in physics and chemistry.