Katharine Blodgett was an intelligent woman.
She graduated high school at the age of 15!! She even received
a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College. She went on to graduate
school from there at the University of Chicago. She was a
very well educated woman who realized the importance of her
education.
Katharine was a woman of many “firsts”.
She set the standard for women when it came to science and
she did a great job! She was the first woman to receive a
doctorate in physics from Cambridge University in England.
Dr. Blodgett received many honorary doctorate degrees and
awards. She was first female research scientist at General
Electric Company in Schenectady.
Dr. Blodgett was also an accomplished inventor
who used her inventions to help save and protect people’s
lives. Her education helped her invent gas masks that saved
countless lives during World War II. Other experiments she
created during World War II led to breakthroughs in the design
of the airplane wing, and she designed a smoke screen that
also saved lives during military campaigns. Katharine has
also been associated with inventing nonreflecting glass, which
is commonly found today in camera lenses and optical equipment,
automobile windows, eyeglasses, picture frames and submarine
periscopes.
Not only was she a well educated woman,
leader, and inventor but she also made significant contributions
to the field of industrial chemistry, including six U.S. patents.
Dr. Blodgett had a long-time collaboration with fellow scientist,
Dr. Irving Langmuir, and their area of research is now known
as Langmuir-Blodgett technology.
Dr. Katharine Blodgett helped pave the way
for women physicists and scientists around the world
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