Helen Wright

Wright headshot
Born in Washington DC, Mary Helen Wright Greuter (1914-1997), the daughter of geophysicist Frederick Eugene Wright who led the Carnegie Institution for Science Moon Project at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, attended Bennett Junior College and earned a Master’s degree in astronomy from Vassar College in 1939. While working at the Vassar College Observatory, Wright became an assistant at Mt. Wilson in 1937 researching the history of telescopes. She worked at the US Naval Observatory in Washington during 1942-43.

In 1943, she became a freelance author and editor. Her best known works include, Explorer of the Universe: A Biography of George Ellery Hale, Sweeper of the Sky: The Life of Maria Mitchell (America’s first woman astronomer) and Palomar, the World’s Largest Telescope. She also wrote and edited many books about the history and methodology of a broad spectrum of sciences, among them mathematics, physics, anthropology and archeology. Wright was a member of the American Astronomical Society, the History of Science Society, and the International Astronomical Union. Wright was also interested in stone carving.


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