Eunice Newton Foote made a discovery having big impacts today (Picture: Google)
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 204th birthday of Eunice Newton Foote, a pioneering female scientist who was the first person to theorise that increasing volumes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would lead to a warming world.
In short, she discovered the greenhouse effect.
Born in the northeastern US state of Connecticut in 1819, Eunice lived at a time when scientific freedom for women was still limited. Undeterred, Eunice not only made great contributions to our understanding of the atmosphere, but also dedicated much of her time to campaigning for women’s rights.
Eleni Dovrou, from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, picks up her story.
‘Eunice foreshadowed and shaped the discovery of the greenhouse effect through the experiments she conducted using cylinders to mimic higher concentrations and the effect of water vapour and carbon dioxide in the temperature rise,’ says Eleni.
‘Her experimental setup might seem simple nowadays, especially with the tools and technology we have at our disposal, and it did not reveal how the temperature raise can be achieved.
‘However, as an amateur, her hypothesis that Earth would have been significantly warmer if its carbon dioxide levels were higher was insightful and groundbreaking.’
Eunice Newton Foote was a passionate campaigner for women’s rights (Picture: Wikimedia)
These findings, and a second study into atmospheric static electricity, were the first two physics papers published by a woman in the US. However, when it came to presenting her groundbreaking findings, it was not Eunice addressing the crowd.
‘In an era that, even though women were technically allowed to present in public settings, the actual freedom provided was limited,’ says Eleni. ‘She became one of the few female scientists to publish her scientific findings, and was on the editorial committee for the first women’s rights convention in 1848.
‘However, when her research was presented in 1856 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, she was not the one presenting it, but a male colleague.
‘As a scientist she prioritised her science, but she also used her experience to vocalise and take action towards equality between men and women and the fundamental right to vote.’
In fact, she was the fifth signatory of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document presented at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention demanding equal rights for women in social and legal status.
Eleni adds: ‘Her work as a women’s rights advocate and as an atmospheric scientist is inspiring and fascinating, and her research is strikingly relevant to the current atmospheric conditions we are facing.’
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She made a huge scientific discovery.
