Sara J. Schechner

Sara J. Schechner (born 1957) is an American historian of science, the David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments and a lecturer on the History of Science at Harvard University.¹

Schechner earned her Bachelor of Arts in History and Science with Physics from Harvard-Radcliffe of Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude in 1979.² During her time at Harvard, she was co-founder and player-coach of the ultimate frisbee team, and in 1976 the only woman on the team.³⁴⁵ Schechner then studied History and Philosophy of Science at the Emmanuel College of the Cambridge University and finished it with a Master of Philosophy in 1981.² She completed her artium magister (Master of Arts) on the History of Science at the Harvard University in 1982.² In 1988, she finalized her PhD on the History of Science at the Harvard University.²

Afterwards, Schechner was chief curator at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.¹ She also curated exhibits for the Smithsonian Institution, the American Astronomical Society, and the American Physical Society.¹ In 2000, she returned to Harvard University as the David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.¹ She is also a lecturer on the History of Science at Harvard University.¹

• Schechner, Sara (1997). Comets, popular culture, and the birth of modern cosmology. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691011508. OCLC 36066082.⁶
• Morrison-Low, A.D.; Schechner, Sara J.; Brenni, Paolo, eds. (2016). How scientific instruments have changed hands. Leiden; Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789004324923. LCCN 2016033199.
• Schechner, Sara (2019). Time of our lives : sundials of the Adler Planetarium. Chicago, Illinois: Adler Planetarium. ISBN 9780578497105.

• 2020: Elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020.⁷
• 2019: Paul Bunge Prize of the Society of German Chemists⁸
• 2018: LeRoy E. Doggett Prize, American Astronomical Society²
• 2018: Second Place, Telescopes-Mechanical/Other, Stellafane Convention, for a quilt, “This is Stellafane!” 2018.²
• 2014: Great Exhibitions Prize for Body of Knowledge:A History of Anatomy (in 3 Parts), British Society for the History of Science²
• 2014: Dean's Impact Award, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University²
• 2010: The Paul and Irene Hollister Lecturer on Glass, 2010.²
• 2009: First Place, Telescopes-Mechanical/Special, Stellafane Convention, for a historical quilt,“The Great 26-Inch Telescope at Foggy Bottom,”²
• 2008: Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize.²
• 2007: First Place, International Design Awards 2007, for Time, Life, & Matter²
• 2004: Helen Sawyer Hogg Public Lecturer, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada²
• 1991–1992: Herbert C. Pollock Award²
• From 1982: New York Academy of Sciences²
• From 1979: Sigma Xi²
• 1979: Sigma Xi Prize, Harvard²
• 1979: Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard²