This is the fourth in a regular series of LinkedIn articles featuring women (past and present) who made significant contributions to science and technology. The name of this series is “Lady Edisons” in honor of Beulah Louise Henry.
Photo from Scientificwomen.net
Katharine Burr Blodgett, born in 1898, was the first female scientist hired at GE. She worked with thin films at GE and patented an anti-reflective glass coating. She was also the first woman to get a PhD in physics from Cambridge University.
Katharine was fifteen when she graduated from high school and earned a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College. Before graduating from Bryn Mawr, she toured a GE research facility where her father had been a patent attorney. There she met a physical chemist, Irving Langmuir, who encouraged her to continue her scientific studies before applying to GE. After completing her bachelor's degree, she enrolled in the University of Chicago where she studied chemistry. After completing her master’s degree in chemistry in 1918, she became the first woman scientist to be hired by General Electric. Later she became the first women to earn a PhD in Physics from Cambridge University in 1926.
During her time at GE, she worked alongside Irving Langmuir, who had been working on a surface chemistry project focused on how substances stick together at the molecular level. Langmuir received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932. Katharine found practical ways to apply Langmuir’s findings and went on to expand on his research by developing the process of transferring thin coating films from water to a solid surface. Done one coating at a time, she was able to build up the film while still controlling the thickness down to the molecule. On November 5, 1940, she received a patent for a "Film Structure and Method of Preparation" (US Patent No. 2,220,860). Many different uses were found for this invisible glass including airplane spy cameras, submarine periscopes, and most notably, projectors and cameras in film. “Gone with the wind” was the first colored film to be projected through a lens based on Katharine's innovation. Katherine retired from GE in 1963. By the end of her career she had received seven patents.
Katharine received the Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women and the Francis Garvan Medal from the American Chemical Society as well as several other awards and honors. She was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007. Her literally invisible contributions to modern technology are still important today and have appeared in devices such as windshields, eyeglasses, movie cameras, and computer screens.
Here are some of Katharine Blodgett's patents:
Check out these articles to learn more about Katharine Blodgett:
“Lady Edisons” is a series prepared by Ann McCrackin featuring women (past and present) whose contributions to science and technology may not be well known. Previous articles in this series are available at LadyEdisons.com or on Twitter @LadyEdisons.
Ann is a patent attorney and an Adjunct Law Professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. Ann is passionate about both innovation and education in the legal profession. Ann is a frequent speaker on legal operations and automation. Follow her on LinkedIn or @LegalOpsAI on Twitter for regular posts on legal technology, automation and artificial intelligence.