Session E15: Manhattan Project and Beyond
3:30 PM–5:18 PM, Saturday, April 12, 2008
Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront (formerly Adam's Mark Hotel), Room: St. Louis H
Sponsoring Unit:
FHP
Chair: Jeffrey Dunham, Middlebury College
Abstract ID: BAPS.2008.APR.E15.6
Abstract: E15.00006 : X-Ray Spectroscopy, The Ellen Richards Prize, and Nuclear Proliferation: The Inspiring Life of Katherine Chamberlain
4:54 PM–5:06 PM
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Abstract 
Author:
Matthew Geramita
(University of Michigan)
In 1924, Katherine Chamberlain became the first woman to receive a doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan. As one of the first women in the world to earn a doctorate in physics, Katherine reached a level prominence in the scientific community that few women had achieved. As a scientist, Katherine studied the outer energy levels of various elements using x-ray spectroscopy at the University of Michigan. In her thesis, she showed the potential for x-rays to reduce highly oxidized compounds and in 1925 won the Ellen Richards Prize for the world's best scientific paper by a woman. As an educator, she taught an introduction to photography course for thirty-five years in the hopes of creating new ways to inspire a love for physics in her students. As a community leader, she worked with The United World Federalists and The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project to find peaceful uses for nuclear energy. Looking at these aspects of Chamberlain's life offers a unique perspective on the physics community of the 1920's, physics education, and the nuclear panic that followed WWII.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2008.APR.E15.6