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Topography of the universe
Margaret Geller is an astrophysicist, born in the
United States in 1947.
Margaret always felt interested in astronomy,
and studied at the University of California and
Princeton.
She is well-known for her observations in
cosmology and extragalactic astronomy.
In the 80's she made the first maps of the large
scale structure of the universe. It was considered large scale as it included thirty million
light-years of the universe's structure, with the
distribution of matter and light. Geller always
attributed her great ability to visualize threedimensional planes to how she was raised by
her father during her childhood.
Among her work we do not only find the first
maps of the nearby universe. We also find
studies on the relationship between galaxies
and their environment, the development and
application of measurement methods for studying the distribution of matter in the universe.
She is also co-discoverer of Hypervelocity stars.
Margaret is the author of several educational
videos on science, such as Where the galaxies are, or So many galaxies... so little
time, and has given dissemination talks all
around the world.
She is a member of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, the American
Physical Society, and the National Academy of
Science.
She currently teaches astrophysics at Harvard
and works at the Astrophysical Observatory of
the Smithsonian Institute, directing a study on
the most distant universe, called HectoMAP.