Sarah Frances Whiting

Sarah Frances Whiting (August 23, 1847 – September 12, 1927) was an American physicist and astronomer. In February 1896 Whiting founded both the physics and astronomy departments; Whiting was interested from an early age in science by her father, who taught natural philosophy. She would often attend and help setup presentations for his classes. Whiting graduated from Ingham University in 1865, after which she taught classics and mathematics at Brooklyn Heights Seminary, a girls' secondary school in Brooklyn.

Whiting was appointed by Wellesley College president Henry Fowle Durant, one year after the College's 1875 opening, as its first professor of physics. She established its physics department and the undergraduate experimental physics lab at Wellesley, the second of its kind to be started in the country. At the request of Durant, she attended lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology given by Edward Charles Pickering. Through attending Pickering's classes, Whiting observed the techniques of teaching science through laboratory work, which was then new to the United States. Whiting adopted this pedagogy for her own classes, and so established the second undergraduate physics laboratory in the United States, after MIT. In 1880, Whiting started teaching a course of practical astronomy at Wellesley.

In February 1896, only a few weeks after the public announcement of the discovery of x-rays, Whiting conducted x-ray experiments with her students and other physics professors. In addition to Cannon, Whiting was also assisted or attended in the X-ray experiments by Mabel Augusta Chase and Grace Evangeline Davis.

Whiting retired from her position as a professor of physics at Wellesley in 1912, but remained as Director of the Whitin Observatory until 1916. She held the title of Professor Emeritus until her death at 81 years old in 1927 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

Writings

Whiting wrote the textbook Daytime and Evening Exercises in Astronomy, for Schools and Colleges.

She was an author of several articles in Popular Astronomy, including: "Use of Graphs in Teaching Astronomy", "Use of Drawings in Orthographic Projection and of Globes in Teaching Astronomy", "Spectroscopic Work for Classes in Astronomy", "The Use of Photographs in Teaching Astronomy", "Partial Solar Eclipse, June 28, 1908", Solar Halos, "A Pedagogical Suggestion for Teachers of Astronomy", "Priceless Accessions to Whitin Observatory Wellesley College", "The Tulse Hill Observatory Diaries" Whiting also wrote an obituary for Margaret Lindsay Huggins and reminiscences of William Thomson.

She described her experiences in physics in the Wellesley College News article "The experiences of a woman physicist."

Achievements Honors: 1883 Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1905 Honorary doctorate, Tufts College

Tenures: 1876–1912 Professor of Physics, Wellesley College 1900–1916 Director, Whitin Observatory, Wellesley College 1916–1927 Professor Emeritus, Wellesley College

Education: AB Ingham University 1865