Maria Telkes

Maria Telkes 1956

Mária Telkes (born December 12, 1900 in Budapest ; † December 2, 1995 there ) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist , scientist and inventor who worked and researched in the field of solar energy .

Live and act

Mária Telkes studied physical chemistry and received her doctorate in this subject at the University of Budapest in 1924. Then she emigrated to the USA. In 1925, she took up a position as a biophysicist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation , where she and George Washington Crile developed a photoelectric device that recorded brain waves.

Telkes worked and researched from 1937 at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1945 she was appointed lecturer ( associate professor ) for metallurgy at MIT.

In 1948, together with the architect Eleanor Raymond , Mária Telkes developed the first house heated by solar energy. The Dover Sun House was the first house to use a passive solar energy concept. Even without active photovoltaic elements, the house managed without heating due to its special construction.

In 1952, the Ford Foundation commissioned Telkes to develop a solar cooker that would be used in developing countries. She was supported in this research project by her research associate, Stella Andrassy. In 1955 Telkes presented a revised variant of the solar oven at the solar energy forum of the American Solar Energy Society . The basic design of the furnace is still in use today.

Awards

1952 Society of Women Engineers Award
1977 American Solar Energy Society - Charles Greeley Abbot Award
In 2012, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

Inventions

She is considered to be the inventor of the first solar heating and the solar oven.

During the Second World War, she developed a mobile, solar-powered desalination plant for the American military. This small device made of clear plastic was used as part of the emergency medical equipment.

Web links

http://www.w-fforte.at/wissenschektiven-leben/pionierinnen/maria-telkes.html
webenetics.com: Famous Hungarians. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008 ; accessed on March 4, 2019 .
National Inventors Hall of Fame

Individual evidence

↑ Mária Telkes | American physical chemist and biophysicist. Accessed January 1, 2019 .
^ Morgan Sherburne: The Woman Scientist and the Woman Architect. In: Scopeweb. November 12, 2009, accessed March 4, 2019 .
↑ Blaine Harden: Solar Power And The Countess. In: Washington Post. June 12, 1977, accessed January 1, 2019 .
↑ Bernhard Müller: The solar cooker manual. Knowledge and vision . epubli GmbH, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-4471-7 .

personal data
SURNAME	Telkes, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Telkes, Mária
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hungarian-American scientist
DATE OF BIRTH	December 12, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH	Budapest
DATE OF DEATH	2nd December 1995
Place of death	Budapest

[1] Mária Telkes | American physical chemist and biophysicist. Accessed January 1, 2019 .

[scopeweb.mit.edu-2] Morgan Sherburne: The Woman Scientist and the Woman Architect. In: Scopeweb. November 12, 2009, accessed March 4, 2019 .

[3] Blaine Harden: Solar Power And The Countess. In: Washington Post. June 12, 1977, accessed January 1, 2019 .

[4] Bernhard Müller: The solar cooker manual. Knowledge and vision . epubli GmbH, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-4471-7 .