Henrietta Leavitt

born 1868 -died 1921
As a senior in 1892, Leavitt discovered astronomy. After graduation she took another course in it, but then spent several years at home when she suffered a serious illness that left her severely deaf. She hadn't forgotten about astronomy, though. She volunteered at the Harvard College Observatory in 1895. Seven years later she was appointed to the permanent staff (at a salary of 30 cents an hour) by director Charles Pickering. She got little chance to do theoretical work, but did become head of the photographic photometry department. This group studied photo images of stars to determine their magnitude.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baleav.html