Anna von Mertens

Visual artist and author Anna Von Mertens explores the life and legacy of Henrietta Leavitt, the pioneering astronomer whose study of variable stars provided the first reliable way to measure vast cosmic distances. Working among the women now known as the Harvard Computers at the Harvard College Observatory, Leavitt laid the foundation for major breakthroughs at Mount Wilson, including Harlow Shapley’s mapping of the Milky Way and Edwin Hubble’s discovery of an expanding universe. Drawing from her book Attention Is Discovery: The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, Von Mertens shares archival materials alongside her own artwork inspired by Leavitt’s life, using art to celebrate not only how careful, trained attention leads to scientific discovery, but also how that applied attention creates a meaningful life.