Content deleted Content added
m remove link (wrong-target redirect) |
some copyedits |
||
Line 29:
| children = 1<ref name="Gill" />
}}
'''Margaret Eliza Maltby''' (December 10, 1860 – May 3, 1944) was an American [[physicist]] notable for her measurement of high [[Electrolyte|electrolytic]] [[Electrical resistance and conductance|resistances]] and the [[Conductivity (electrolytic)|conductivity]] of very dilute [[Solution (chemistry)|solutions]].<ref name = "cwpucla">{{Cite web| title = Margaret Maltby 1860-1944| website = "Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics." CWP at UCLA| access-date = 2016-05-28| url = http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Maltby,_Margaret_Eliza@901234567.html}}</ref> Maltby was the first woman to earn a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Spangenburg |first1=Ray |last2=Moser |first2=Diane |title=Modern Science, 1896-1945 |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-6881-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HG2lB95w1GAC&q=Maltby+first+woman+to+earn+a+B.S.+degree+at+MIT+in+1891&pg=PA12 |language=en}}</ref> and the first woman to earn a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in physics from any German university.<ref name="smithsonian">{{Cite web |title=Margaret Eliza Maltby (1860-1944) |url=http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siarchives&uri=full=3100001~!306326~!0#focus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323053603/http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siarchives&uri=full=3100001~!306326~!0#focus |archive-date=2017-03-23 |access-date=2017-03-22 |website=Acc. 90-105 - Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s, Smithsonian Institution Archives}}</ref>
She taught for over 30 years at [[Barnard College]] where she introduced one of the first courses on the [[Musical acoustics|physics of music]]. Maltby was active in the [[American Association of University Women]] where she was instrumental in helping female academics receive fellowships to study and conduct research, at a time when it was uncommon for women to be eligible for such fellowships.<ref name="cwpucla" />
Line 37:
==Early life==
Margaret Maltby was born Minnie Eliza Maltby on her family's farm in [[Bristolville, Ohio]], on December 10, 1860, to Edmund Maltby and Lydia Jane Brockway. She had two older sisters: Betsy (Maltby) Mayhew and Martha Jane Maltby who were 15 and 13, respectively, at the time of her birth.<ref name="ANB">{{cite journal |last1=Charbonneau |first1=Joanne A. |title=Maltby, Margaret Eliza (1860-1944), physicist, college professor, and administrator |journal=American National Biography |date=February 2000 |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302001 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302001 |access-date=21 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Minnie Maltby was named by her sisters, but she disliked
== Education ==
Maltby attended the [[College-preparatory school|preparatory school]] at [[Oberlin College]] before [[Matriculation|matriculating]] there in 1878. She graduated from Oberlin in 1882.<ref name="Kidwell" /> During college she explored her interest in music. Music became a lifelong interest of hers both personally and in her professional work. In adulthood she listened frequently to [[classical music]] on the radio at her home and developed one of the first academic courses about the [[physics of music]] during her tenure at [[Barnard College]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Barr |first=E. Scott |date=1960-05-01 |title=Anniversaries in 1960 of Interest to Physicists |url=https://pubs.aip.org/ajp/article/28/5/462/1037066/Anniversaries-in-1960-of-Interest-to-Physicists |journal=American Journal of Physics |language=en |volume=28 |issue=5 |pages=462–475 |doi=10.1119/1.1935838 |issn=0002-9505}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite news |date=January 17, 1931 |title=MISS MALTBY TO RETIRE.: Barnard Physics Professor Likely to Continue Residence Here. |work=New York Times}}</ref> Following college Maltby studied at the [[Art Students League of New York]] and taught high school in Ohio for four years.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Singer |first=Sandra L. |title=Adventures abroad: North American women at German-speaking universities, 1868-1915 |date=2003 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-313-32371-3 |series=Contributions in women's studies |location=Westport, Conn |pages=97-98}}</ref>
In 1887, Maltby enrolled at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)]] and went on to earn a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S]]. degree in 1891. She had to enroll as a "special" student because the institution did not accept female students. She met [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] in 1887 and joined her "[[Ellen Swallow Richards#Woman's Laboratory assistant instructor|Women's Laboratory]]" at MIT.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ellen Henrietta (Swallow) Richards with female students in classroom, 1888 |url=https://digital-exhibits.libraries.mit.edu/s/under-the-lens/item/3648 |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Under the Lens: Women Biologists and Chemists at MIT (1865-2024) |language=en-US}}</ref> Maltby formed a life-long friendship with Richards and later spoke at her memorial of the "constant thoughtfulness" of the only female teacher at MIT for the female students.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1912-02-02 |title=Memorial to Mrs. Ellen H. Richards |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.35.892.176 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=35 |issue=892 |pages=176–177 |doi=10.1126/science.35.892.176 |issn=0036-8075}}</ref><ref name="personal" />
Line 55:
Invited back to Germany in 1898 to work at the [[Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt]] in Charlottenburg, Maltby worked as a research assistant to Friedrich Kohlrausch on electrolytic [[Electrical resistivity and conductivity|conductivity]] in solutions.<ref name="Proffitt" /> Based on their data, Kohlrausch proposed the [[Molar conductivity|non-linear law for strong electrolytes]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kenndler |first=Ernst |date=2022 |title=Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) and its Basic Principles in Historical Retrospect. Part 3. 1840s –1900ca. The First CE of Ions in 1861. Transference Numbers, Migration Velocity, Conductivity, Mobility |url=https://riviste.fupress.net/index.php/subs/article/view/1423/1108 |journal=Substantia |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=77-105 |doi=10.36253/Substantia-1423}}</ref> After returning to the United States, Maltby studied [[mathematical physics]] with [[Arthur Gordon Webster|Arthur Webster]] at [[Clark University]] from 1899 to 1900.<ref name="Kidwell">{{Cite book |last=Kidwell |first=Peggy |author-link=Peggy A. Kidwell |title=Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780521821971 |editor-last=Byers |editor-first=Nina |edition=1 |location=Cambridge |pages=[https://archive.org/details/outofshadowscont0000unse/page/26 26–35] |language=en |chapter=Margaret Maltby 1860–1944 |editor-last2=Williams |editor-first2=Gary |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/outofshadowscont0000unse/page/26}}</ref>
In 1900 Maltby took up a position as an instructor in chemistry at [[Barnard College]], hoping that an opportunity would soon open up for her to teach physics. In 1903 Marie Reimer was hired as the head chemistry instructor and Maltby transferred to physics. Maltby's involvement in administration and building up the physics department left her little time for research, although she spent a sabbatical year
Physicist and [[History of science|historian of science]] [[Katherine Sopka]] wrote that her students greatly admired her. One wrote to Sopka that: "Professor Maltby was my mentor—a gracious lady—a friend and a counselor. Her most memorable advice to me was not to forego marriage for a career—which I followed and lived happily ever after."<ref name="Sopka">{{Cite book |last1=Sopka |first1=Katherine |title=Making Contributions: An Historical Overview of Women's Role in Physics |publisher=American Association of Physics Teachers |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-917853-09-8 |editor-last=Lotze |editor-first=Barbara |location=College Park, Maryland |chapter=Women Physicists in Past Generations}} pp. 11-13</ref> Although Maltby supported the ability of other female academics to marry, she personally did not believe that marriage would be beneficial between two scientists. She wrote to [[Svante Arrhenius]] on the occasion of his divorce that she believed that it was inevitable that one personality would subsume the other in a marriage of two scientists, and so she herself never wanted to get married.<ref name="personal" />
Line 72:
[[File:Margaret Maltby and Philip Meyer-2.jpg|thumb|alt=Margaret Maltby sits drinking tea at a table with Philip Randolph Meyer. The interior is decorated with fine objects. in the background is a wardrobe. Maltby has her hair back in a bun and leans on to one side, resting her head on her hand while gazing at the camera. Meyer is young and dressed in a World War I army uniform. He gazes downward at an open book as if reading.|Margaret Maltby with her son Philip Randolph Meyer, home from flight training at [[Kelly Field]], circa 1918.|left]]
In 2014, [[Autosomal DNA]] tests of Meyer's two daughters through [[Ancestry.com]] showed strong links to known descendants of Maltby's mother and of her father. The results of the tests indicated that Philip Randolph Meyer was Maltby's natural son.<ref name="Gill" /> He was born in June 1897, six months after Maltby's sudden resignation from Wellesley College. Maltby likely resigned to hide her pregnancy and preserve her career.<ref name="personal" /> When Maltby returned to a research position in Germany in 1898, she left her son in the care of a friend
In her leisure time, Maltby enjoyed listening to music, especially the [[Metropolitan Opera]], and travel. She also enjoyed spending time with Meyer's children (her grandchildren) who were born in the 1930s.<ref name=":1" />
| |||