Miriam Burland
A woman with close-cropped short hair.
Miriam Burland, from a 1941 publication.
Born1902
Montreal
DiedApril 1, 1996
Ottawa
NationalityCanadian
Occupationastronomer
Known forfirst woman on staff at Dominion Observatory
Notable workstudied meteors, Cepheid variables, eclipses

Miriam Seymour Burland (1902 – April 1, 1996) was a Canadian astronomer. She was the first woman on staff at the Dominion Observatory, when she joined the Astrophysics Division in 1927.

Early life

Miriam Seymour Burland was born in Montreal, the daughter of Benjamin Burland and Bertha Belasco Burland.[1] Her mother was active in the social life of Saint-Lambert, as founder of the town's Tuesday Musical Club[2] and the Christmas Tree League.[3] Miriam Burland attended Longueuil High School in Montreal, and studied mathematics and physics at McGill University, where she was also an avid ice hockey player.[4] She trained as an astronomer at McGill, under Vibert Douglas.[5]

Career

The Dominion Observatory building in Ottawa. A Romanesque Revival stone building with a prominent green dome.
The Dominion Observatory building, where Burland spent her career as an astronomer.

Burland joined the Astrophysics Division at the Dominion Observatory in 1927, and was the first woman on staff at the Observatory. In the 1930s she served in leadership positions at the Ottawa Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), including a term as president. She worked on photoelectric photometry of Cepheid variables,[6] and later studied meteors.[7][8][9] She was on three teams of scientists observing major solar eclipses in Canada, in 1932, 1954, and 1962.[10]

From the mid-1950s, still the only woman astrophysicist on staff, she served as the observatory's education and information liaison, compiling reports, arranging public tours, and answering inquiries.[5] She and Peter Millman coordinated a meteor observation program in Canada for the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958).[11] In 1960, she was among the observatory's representatives at the opening of the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia.[12] In the 1960s, she served on the National Committee for Canada in the International Astronomical Union. She was a regular contributor to the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. She was received the RASC's Service Award in 1963.[7][13] "I know there are five PhDs who became scientists because of visits to the Observatory and my interest in their careers," she noted on the occasion of her retirement from the Dominion Observatory in 1967.[10][14]

Publications

Publications by Burland included "Combined Radar, Photographic and Visual Observations of the Perseid Meteor Shower of 1947" (Nature 1948, with Peter Millman and D. W. R. McKinley),[15] and "Wave Lengths, Equivalent Widths, and Line Profiles in the Spectrum of the Star H. D. 190073" (Canadian Journal of Research 1949, with C. S. Beals).[16]

Personal life

Miriam Seymour Burland was active in the Zonta Club in Ottawa,[17] and served as its president in 1941.[18] She died in 1996, aged 93 years, in Ottawa.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Benjamin Burland (obituary)". The Ottawa Journal. March 31, 1951. p. 32. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "History". La Société chorale de Saint-Lambert / St. Lambert Choral Society (in French). 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  3. ↑ "The Christmas Tree League". Société d'histoire Mouillepied (in French). Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  4. ↑ Becker, Susan (October 19, 1967). "Shower of Meteors Highlight of Career". The Leader-Post. p. 8. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Willett, Carolyn (September 29, 1956). "Astrophysicist at Ottawa Observatory Likes Her Career". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 48. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  6. ↑ Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 1945. Natural Resources Canada. pp. 154, 155, 163.
  7. 1 2 Broughton, Peter. "Miriam Burland". Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  8. ↑ Jarrell, Richard A. (2009). "Canadian Meteor Science: The First Phase, 1933-1990" (PDF). Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 12: 225.
  9. ↑ "Ottawans Carry Out Scientific Operation". The Ottawa Citizen. December 29, 1947. p. 14. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 Carter, Alixe (September 21, 1967). "She Hitched Her Dreams to a Star". The Ottawa Journal. p. 34. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Jarrell, Richard A. (1988-12-15). The Cold Light of Dawn: A History of Canadian Astronomy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781487590543.
  12. ↑ Odgers, J. G. (1960). "Official Opening of The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory White Lake, Penticton, B.C., June 20, 1960". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 54: 272. Bibcode:1960JRASC..54..269O.
  13. ↑ Hymson, Janet (May 23, 1963). "Woman Astronomer Views Some 800 Meteors a Year". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 28. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Foley, Shirley (September 22, 1967). "Career Scans the Sky". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 31. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Burland, Miriam S.; Mckinley, D. W. R.; Millman, Peter M. (1948). "Combined Radar, Photographic and Visual Observations of the Perseid Meteor Shower of 1947". Nature. 161 (4086): 278–280. Bibcode:1948Natur.161..278M. doi:10.1038/161278b0. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 4140214.
  16. ↑ Beals, C. S.; Burland, Miriam S. (1949-09-01). "Wave lengths, equivalent widths, and line profiles in the spectrum of the star h.d. 190073". Canadian Journal of Research. 27a (5): 169–190. Bibcode:1949CJRes..27A.169B. doi:10.1139/cjr49a-018. ISSN 1923-4287.
  17. ↑ "Review Renovation Plans". The Ottawa Journal. October 5, 1962. p. 24. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Zonta Club Reviews Year of Service to Needy". The Ottawa Journal. May 17, 1941. p. 8. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Miriam S. Burland (obituary)". The Gazette. April 4, 1996. p. 70. Retrieved June 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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