In the 1700s, many people believed that space was supernatural. They thought events in the sky happened when gods were unhappy. Some of these events were eclipses (日食). Eclipses result from objects moving in space. These objects may be planets or moons. During an eclipse, one object passes through the shadow of another.
But Wang Zhenyi thought differently. She was a scientist in China. Wang believed in facts and observation (观测). She used experiments to understand difficult ideas. This included eclipses.
Throughout her life, Wang wrote many articles about her research. She shared her findings with scientists and the public. She wanted everyone to understand her work. She thought science should be available to all.
Wang Zhenyi was born in what is now Nanjing, China. She grew up in the late 1700s. Back then, girls were not able to get a formal education. But her father and grandfather were scholars (学者). They pushed her to read and educate herself.
She read about math. She also read about astronomy. That is the scientific study of stars, planets and space. She read medicine books and poetry.
Later, Wang met other female scholars. She decided to focus on studying astronomy and math. She also started writing poetry.
Wang couldn't go into a lab. So she did experiments (实验) at home. In one, she used a round table, a lamp and a mirror. The table was Earth. The lamp was the sun. The mirror was the moon. She moved them around to understand their movements. By doing so, she showed what truly happened during eclipses.
Wang showed that the moon can block our view of the sun. This demonstrated (演示) a solar eclipse. It happens when the moon moves between the sun and Earth. It lasts for a short time. Wang also showed that the Earth can block sunlight from reaching the moon. This demonstrated a lunar eclipse. It happens when Earth gets in the way of the sun. Its light cannot hit the moon. During a lunar eclipse a full moon disappears. The shadow of Earth covers it up.
Wang felt it was not fair that girls could not get an education. It hurt science. Her poems often addressed these inequalities.
In one poem, she wrote, "It's made to believe, Women are the same as Men; Are you not convinced, Daughters can also be heroic?"
