Feet Firmly Planted on the Ground and Eyes Focused on the Stars
Remembering Margherita Hack on the 99th anniversary from her birth
A life among the stars: the beginning
Margherita Hack was born in via Centostelle ("one hundred stars", in Italian) at the corner with Campo di Marte (Fields of Mars), in Florence on June 12, 1922. She was the only child, born from a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. Despite this, her parents did not impose any religious beliefs on her: Margherita created her own identity, she was an atheist and believed that spirituality is to love and understand others.
Margherita Hack, young athleteNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
After completing her classical studies she decided to enroll in the Faculty of Physics. This choice changes Margherita's life forever. A decision far from easy: at that time science, in particular physics, was not a subject "for women" but Margherita follows her true call, the stars.
RS Puppis (ESA/HUBBLE) (17 December 2013)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Eyes focused on the stars: her career
Margherita Hack deals with stars since her graduation thesis writing about Delta Cephei, the stars with variable luminosity. Why are they so important? Hack shows that from the luminous and variable intensity of these stars it is possible to calculate their distance from Earth.
Delta Cephei type stars are the first true unit of measurement for the galaxy. It's 1957 and there are no satellites yet, the man has to wait another twelve years before landing on the Moon. The sky, stars and planets are observed from earth with powerful telescopes.
Margherita Hack at the Trieste Observatory (1964/1997)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Hack explores the universe also through ultraviolet rays: "Looking at it in ultraviolet rays means being able to observe phenomena otherwise invisible" writes the astrophysicist. Her attention focuses on a particular star: the Epsilon Aurigae.
Margherita Hack at the Trieste ObservatoryNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Since 1963, she studies quasars, central nuclei, it turns out, of very distant galaxies.
Margherita Hack at the Trieste ObservatoryNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Later on, she also studies fossil radiations, a field of research associated to the continuous evolution of the Universe after the Big Bang. Hack's treatise "Stellar Spectroscopy", written with Otto Struve, is still considered a fundamental text.
Margherita Hack speaks at Montemarenzo (1988)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
The turning point of her career came with her first research on the star Zeta Tauri, which allowed her start a research on her own.
Another milestone in her professional life came in 1964: she was the first woman in Italy to direct an astronomical observatory in Trieste.
Margerita Hack speaking in FirenzeNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Feet firmly planted on the ground
As a true innovator, she put side by side the pure research to the popularization: she brought astronomy and astrophysics in theaters, in television programs, she wrote books for children, she even became a comic strip.
"Explain complicated things with simple words" is her goal.
She is a mature woman, amusing and surprising. Thanks to her simple, powerful words, the non-academic public discovers the "magic" of science and the mysteries of the Universe.
Margherita Hack at Genoa "Festival" della Scienza (2011-10-28)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
Not all her colleagues understand her approach. She smiles and ironizes, but does not retreat one step, becoming one of the most popular scientists and loved by young people.
Margherita Hack and the Supernatural
Margherita Hack was well-known for her frankness, intellectual honesty and atheism. Atheism for her was not dogmatic - this could never be her approach - but it was a deeply rational belief. She spoke upon many occasions about her relationship with the supernatural and religion: her attitude was always open and never intimidated, even when debating with the greatest exponents of the Catholic Church. Like in the picture, when in 2004 at the Science Museum in Milan, she extensively discussed with Monsignor Giovanni D'Ercole: an event still remembered by the hundreds of participants who attended the conference.
Margherita Hack & Museo Scienza (Interview) (2008)National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
In this interview from 2008, the scientist talks about the beginning of her career as an astrophysicist, the milestones that marked astronomy researches in the 20th century and the state of scientific culture in Italy.
Margherita Hack and Marco SantarelliNational Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci
On the 26th July 2018, Fondazione Margherita Hack was established: it aims to catalogue the astonishing bequest of 18,000 books belonging to the Margherita Hack and her husband Aldo De Rosa's collection, hosted by the Trieste Library, which be named after the scientist. Fondazione Margherita Hack was created by Marco Santarelli, with whom Margherita Hack collaborated over the course of 10 years and wrote 3 books together, including "Sotto una cupola stellata" (Einaudi).
This story was made in partnership with Fondazione Margherita Hack. Founded by Marco Santarelli, the institution aims at the protection and pupularisation of Margherita Hack's scientific heritage.
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