Margherita Hack facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margherita Hack
|
|
|---|---|
Margherita Hack in 2006
|
|
| Born | 12 June 1922 |
| Died | 29 June 2013 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Spouse(s) |
Aldo De Rosa
(m. 1944) |
| Awards | Targa Giuseppe Piazzi (1994) Premio Internazionale Cortina Ulisse (1995) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astrophysics popular science |
| Institutions | University of Trieste |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Margherita Hack Knight Grand Cross OMRI (12 June 1922 – 29 June 2013) was a famous Italian astrophysicist. She was also great at explaining science to everyone. An asteroid discovered in 1995, called 8558 Hack, was named after her!
Contents
Biography
Margherita Hack was born in Florence, Italy. Her father, Roberto Hack, was a bookkeeper. Her mother, Maria Luisa Poggesi, was an artist. Both her parents were interested in the Theosophical Society.
When she was young, Margherita was a talented athlete. She played basketball and was good at track and field. She even won prizes in long jump and high jump contests. In 1944, she married Aldo De Rosa, who was a childhood friend.
Margherita studied at the Liceo Classico "Galileo Galilei" in Florence. However, World War II made it hard for her to take her final exams. In 1945, she earned her degree in physics from the University of Florence. Her main project was about Cepheid variables, which are special stars. She did this research at the Arcetri Observatory. She looked up to Giorgio Abetti, who was the director there.
Margherita believed that ethics, or what is right and wrong, comes from our own conscience. She was a vegetarian since she was a child and cared deeply about animal welfare. She even wrote a book called Perché sono vegetariana (Why I Am A Vegetarian). She also wrote La mia vita in bicicletta (My life on a bicycle).
Margherita Hack passed away on June 29, 2013, in Trieste. She had been in the hospital for heart problems. She left her huge library of 18,000 astronomy books to the city of Trieste. Her husband, Aldo De Rosa, died the next year.
On June 12, 2021, Google honored her with a special Google Doodle for her 99th birthday. In June 2022, a bronze statue of Margherita Hack was placed in front of the Università Statale di Milano. This was to celebrate her 100th birthday. It is the first statue of a woman scientist in a public space in Italy.
Scientific Achievements
Margherita Hack became a full professor of astronomy at the University of Trieste in 1964. She was the first Italian woman to lead the Trieste Astronomical Observatory. She directed it from 1964 to 1987, making it famous around the world.
She was a member of many important physics and astronomy groups. She also directed the Astronomy Department at the University of Trieste for several years. Margherita worked at many observatories in America and Europe. She was also part of teams for ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). In Italy, she worked hard to help the astronomy community grow. This helped Italian scientists get access to satellites and become well-known internationally.
Margherita Hack wrote many scientific papers for international journals. She also wrote several books for both university students and the general public. In 1994, she won the Targa Giuseppe Piazzi for her scientific research. In 1995, she received the Cortina Ulisse Prize for explaining science to everyone.
In 1978, she started a magazine called L'Astronomia. Later, she also directed another popular science magazine called Le Stelle with Corrado Lamberti.
Social and Public Life
Margherita Hack was also well-known for her activities outside of science. She believed that people could have strong morals and ethics without needing religion. She supported scientific freedom and rational thinking. She was an honorary president of the Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR).
She sometimes ran for political office to support her ideas. For example, she ran in regional elections in 2005 and general elections in 2006. However, she often chose to give up her seat to focus on her astronomy work. She believed in using science to understand the world.
Regarding energy, Margherita Hack was against building new nuclear power stations in Italy. She felt Italy was not ready to manage them safely. However, she supported nuclear research itself.
Awards and decorations
 |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic – awarded on 28 May 2012 |
 |
Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art – awarded on 27 May 1998 |
Selected publications
- C'è qualcuno là fuori? (with Viviano Domenici, 2015)
- Hack! Come io vedo il mondo (2013)
- Nove vite come i gatti (with Federico Taddia, 2013)
- Vi racconto l'astronomia (2013)
- Il Mio Infinito (2011)
- La mia vita in bicicletta (2011)
- Perché sono vegetariana (2011)
- Dove nascono le stelle (2004)
- Nebulae and Galaxies (with Giorgio Abetti, 1964)
Images for kids
-
Sguardo Fisico, a sculpture representing Hack created by artist Sissi.
-
Margherita Hack at a conference in Rome in 2007.
See also
In Spanish: Margherita Hack para niños
