doing the calculations and the computations necessary for the data to form a pattern and tell us about the university fell entirely to women. women computers. it didn't b start that way. professor pickering had a young harvard man doing that work for him, computing. but professor pickering was so frustrated with the quality of the young man's work, he once said his maid could do a better job. and so professor pickering fired the harvard man and replaced him with his maid. wilamina fleming who did a better job, even without the benefit of a college education. she actually turned out to be so good that she was eventually appointed curator of astronomical photos, photos