Hertha Ayrton (nee Phoebe Sarah Marx ; English Hertha Marks Ayrton ; April 28, 1854 - August 23, 1923 ) - English engineer , mathematician and inventor. The first woman in history to receive the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society for her work on an electric arc and sand ripples [2] .
| Hertha Ayrton | |
|---|---|
| Hertha marks ayrton | |
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| Birth name | |
| Date of Birth | April 28, 1854 |
| Place of Birth | Portsmouth , Hampshire , England |
| Date of death | August 23, 1923 (69 years old) |
| A place of death | Lansing , West Sussex , England |
| A country |  United Kingdom |
| Scientific field | mathematics , engineering , medicine |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University , University of London |
| Awards and prizes | Hughes Medal ( 1906 ) |
Content
- 1 Early years
- 2 Education and career
- 3 Personal life
- 4 Death
- 5 notes
- 6 Literature
- 7 References
The early years
Phoebe Sarah Marx was born in Portsmouth , England , in 1854 . She changed her name to Hertha when she was a teenager [3] . Hertha was the third child in the family of a Jewish watchmaker, an immigrant from Poland . Her father passed away early in 1861. Mother tried to feed her children on her own, but she could hardly succeed, despite her great talent for embroidery and the help of various charitable organizations. Decent education of children was not even discussed. Therefore, the mother gave Herth to be raised by her sister, a teacher and co-owner of a private school in London . She studied French , music , national economy , as well as mathematics and Latin [4] .
After graduating from school, Hertha remained in London and began to earn a living by needlework, helping her family.
Education and career
A talented girl was noticed by wealthy supporters of female education and they pay tuition fees for her at the University of Cambridge , where, especially for women, they founded Girton College.
After passing the entrance exams in mathematics and English in 1876 , Hertha became a student. Together with Charlotte Scott, she created a math club, and a little later began to engage in tutoring . She decided to use the money that appeared to continue her studies.
In 1881, Hertha passed the exams and received a bachelor 's degree from the University of London .
Hertha came to science through her inventions. While still a student, she invented a sphygmograph for registering a pulse in the arteries.
Also, its important invention was the line separator, consisting of a series of parallelograms designed to divide lines into any number of equal parts. A patent was obtained for this invention and it was demonstrated at the exhibition of the female industry.
In 1884, Hertha entered an evening course at Finsbury Technical College with Professor William Edward Ayrton.
In 1893, Hertha made an important discovery. Electric arcs were used to create bright light. The carbon electrodes and the gas between them were heated to a state of high voltage discharge.
Hertha developed a theory linking the length of an arc with pressure and voltage, and traced a hissing noise before oxidation, rather than evaporation of the electrode material. This work was published in The Electrician in 1895.
In 1899, the Institute of Engineers invited her to give a lecture. She was later elected to the institute and received one of her awards.
In 1899, Hertha led the section of physical science at the International Women's Congress in London.
In 1900, Hertha spoke at the International Electric Congress in Paris .
Her success led the British Association for the Advancement of Science to allow women to work on general and sectional committees.
From 1883 until her death, Hertha registered 26 patents: 5 for mathematical separators, 13 for arc lamps and electrodes, and the rest for an air motor [4] .
In 1906, Hertha received the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society of London, which is awarded annually for original discoveries in the field of physical sciences. She is the first and currently the only woman to receive this medal [2] .
Personal life
On May 6, 1885, Hertha married the widower of William Ayrton, adopting his four-year-old daughter Edith. In 1886, Hertha gave birth to a daughter, Barbara [4] .
Death
Hertha Ayrton died in North Lansing, Sussex on August 26, 1923 from blood poisoning as a result of an insect bite [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Ogilvie M. B. The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science : Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century - Routledge , 2003. - Vol. 1. - P. 62. - 798 p. - ISBN 978-1-135-96342-2
- ↑ 1 2 Joan Mason. Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923) and the admission of women to the Royal Society of London : [ eng. ] // Journal of the Royal Society for the History of Science. - 1991.
- ↑ Larry Riddle. Hertha Marx Ayrton : [ eng. ] // Biographies of women mathematicians. - 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Pam Hirsch. Hertha Ayrton : [ eng. ] // Jewish Women's Archive. - 2009.
- ↑ Joan Mason. Ayrton (née Marks), (Phoebe) Sarah Hertha : [ eng. ] // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. - 2004.
Literature
- Gary Williams and Nina Byers. Beyond the Shadow: Contribution of 20th Century Women to Physics : [ eng. ] . - Los Angeles: Cambridge University Press, 2006 .-- ISBN 9780521821971 .