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Louise Devoy - Five Way Interview

Dr Louise Devoy is Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, UK. Louise has a background in astrophysics and the history of science. She has worked at various museums in the UK and is interested in astronomical instruments, women in astronomy and historic observatories. She is author of Royal Observatory Greenwich: A History in Objects, published to celebrate the Observatory’s 350th anniversary in 2025. 

Why science?

I'm curious about the world around me and science is great way to ask questions. I love digging into the history of science to see how our ideas have changed over time and to appreciate how science runs in parallel with the trends of the period, whether it's improving navigation for trade or using innovative technologies to create exciting new fields of study.

Why this book?

Various books have been written about certain aspects of the Observatory's history (longitude, timekeeping, the Astronomers Royal etc) but I wanted to do something more holistic that that showed how astronomers at Greenwich worked across many different topics including magnetism, meteorology, weights and standards, astrophysics, and even measuring the density of the Earth.  I've spent the past five years rummaging through the collection stores and archives to pick out the most interesting (and surprising!) objects, some of which have never have been highlighted before. It's a quirky mixture of technical objects (telescopes, clocks, instruments) along with less obvious objects that give us an insight into what it was like to live and work on site.

What has been the most lasting impact of the Royal Observatory Greenwich? 

It's the global reference location for time and longitude. Every time you look at a watch or a map, you're relying on the countless people who worked here to transform star data into essential information for coordinating time across navigation, travel and trade.

What’s next?

We're working on First Light, which is our ambitious project to completely transform the Observatory site by 2028 with more engaging and accessible displays and facilities. Check our website for more details. 

What’s exciting you at the moment?

We've been working with NAROO colleagues at Paris Observatory to digitise around 2,000 photographic glass plates taken here in Greenwich from 1893-1908. For scientists, these plates offer a fossilised record of how the sky looked over a century ago, giving them the chance to calculate tiny shifts in star positions over time. For historians, these plates give us an insight into the life and work of the astronomers during that period, including the 'lady computers' who were the first women to work as professional astronomers at Greenwich. It's amazing how these small square pieces of glass can give us so much information!

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