Ellen Swallow Richards

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen Swallow Richards

Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (born December 3, 1842 in Dunstable , Massachusetts , USA , † March 30, 1911 in Boston ) was an American chemist and ecologist . She was one of the founders of "environmental hygiene", the preliminary stage of modern scientific ecology.

Life

Ellen Swallow's parents, Fanny and Peter Swallow, were both teachers, farmers and also ran a small village shop. Ellen didn't have much time left for school because she had to work on parental ventures. Nevertheless, she took college courses in mathematics , French and Latin from 1859 . To earn the money for her education, she gave school lessons and tutoring. At the same time she looked after her seriously ill mother. It was not until she was 25 that she had the money she needed to enroll at the renowned Vassar College , one of the few educational institutions of the time that even accepted women. Among other things, she studied astronomy with Maria Mitchell .

In 1870 she graduated from Vassar College and moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She was the first woman to study there. It was adopted on December 4, 1870:

It was voted to confirm the recommendation of the Committee on the School of Industrial Science that Miss Ellen H. Swallow be admitted as a Special Student in Chemistry - it being understood that her admission did not establish a precedent for the general admission of females.

In 1875 she married the metallurgy professor Robert H. Richards (1844–1945), who taught at MIT.

After graduating from MIT, Ellen Richards campaigned for the founding of the Women's Laboratory , a course for women at MIT, which she directed from 1876 to 1883. You have to know that women were not allowed to study at MIT until 1883. With her commitment, Ellen Richards made sure that women could study the natural sciences despite this disability.

From 1887 on, Richards led the laboratory work on a large-scale study of the water supply in the United States on behalf of the US health authorities , which led to the establishment of a course in sanitary engineering at MIT in 1890 . As a teacher taught Richards their students in the analysis of drinking water , waste water and the air . She lived with her husband in a house in Boston , under the name today Ellen Swallow Richards House as a National Historic Landmark in the National Register of Historic Places is registered.

In addition to their work, Ellen Richards and her husband actively supported young women interested in studying science for almost a quarter of a century.

Web links

Commons : Ellen Swallow Richards  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Richards, Ellen Swallow
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Richards, Ellen Henrietta Swallow
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist and ecologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Dunstable , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1911
Place of death Boston