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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1999-01-20, Page 10nwr.r�,��i.ar DOMINION MIR two kr Malt 4 DAY COURSE Ali. or 1400.6651-3027 Crossr ads nw.��Wi.cal MUM SIM 111111NNe MAY swEEK COURSE Mowery 3 CAU. 235-4899 or 1-800666.3027 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, janwry 20, 1999 Page 9 Exeter native Canada's own Marie Curie By Craig Bradford TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — A woman born in Exeter is a forgot- ten pioneer in physics and nuclear science. Harriet Brooks is considered Canada's first woman nuclear physicist and is the first person to realize one element can change into another. She was also among the early discovers of radon and the first researcher to attempt to determine its atomic mass. - Brooks was born in Exeter on July 2, 1876 and went to school at Seaforth Collegiate Institute. She entered Montreal's McGill University in 1894 and graduated with a B.A. Honours in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1898. Brooks was an outstanding student, winning a scholarship or award in each year of her studies at . McGill. It was in 1898 that Brooks met Ernest Rutherford, an eminent nuclear science researcher of the time. Rutherford moved from England to McGill and after her graduation Brooks became one of the first members of his research group and his first graduate student. • Through her work with Rutherford's research group, Brooks earned her master's degree in 1901. Prior to that in 1899, Brooks was appointed as non-resident tutor in mathe- matics at the newly formed Royal Victoria College (RVC), a women's college of McGill. Brooks left RVC in 1901 to take a position at Bryn Mawr College/as Fellow in physics. While at Bryn Mawr, Brooks received a Presidents European Fellowship to study at England's Cambridge University. She .worked with another eminent nuclear researcher of the day, J.J. Thomson, at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, research that was later published at McGill in 1904. Brooks was the first woman to study at Cavendish. Brooks' M:A. was the first awarded to a woman at McGill, which didn't have a Ph.D program till 1909. In 1903, Brooks was rehired at the RVC as non- resident tutor in mathematics and physics and rejoined Rutherford's research group. She stayed another year at McGill and then accepted a physics tutor position at Barnard College. Her life at Barnard was uneventful till the sum- mer of 1906 when a woman's role in professional life at the turn of the century was drilled home to Brooks. She became engaged to a professor of physics at Columbia University, a development that did not sit well with Barnard's dean Laura Gill. Gill wrote to Brooks to say she :-hould end her relationship with the college because of her upcoming mar- riage, To this, Brooks wrote this reply: "I think also it is a duty I owe to my profession and to my sex to show that a woman has a right to the practice of her profession and cannot be con- demned to abandon it merely because she marries. I cannot conceive how women's colleges, inviting and encouraging women to enter professions can be justly founded or maintained denying such a principle." Despite the interventij n on her behalf by Barnard's head of physicsAlargaret Malty, Brooks eventually - left Barnard despite breaking off the engagement. Brooks travelled for a while and eventually ended up in Italy on the Isle of Capri. During that time she made contact with arie Curie. Brooks conducted independent research at the Laboratorie Curie in Paris in 1906-07. Though Brooks never published any of her work at the Curie Institute, three later articles from the Institute cited her work. Brooks vied for 4,6.position at the University of Manchester in England in the spring of 1907. Brooks made quite an impression on Rutherford_through her research and he gave glowing references of her whenever asked. Here's his reference for Brooks he sent to Manchester: "Miss Brooks has a most excellent knowledge of theoretical and experimental physics and is unusu- ally well qualifiedto undertake research. Her work on `radioactivity' has been of great importance in the analysis of radioactive transformations and next to Mme Curie she is the most prominent woman physicist in the department of radioactivi- ty..." He credited her identification of radon as a vital piece of work that led him to propose the theory of the transmutation of one element into another. But Brooks then decided to end her research career and married Frank Pitcher who had been a laboratory demonstrator at McGill while she was a student. The reasons Brooks decided to give up her career are not clear. Some historians have speculated it may have been a conscious decision to give up the lonely life of a mature single woman science researcher. Letters from Pitcher to Brooks also show an ardent pursuit. After marriage, Brooks returned to Montreal with Pitcher where they raised three children, two of whom died as teens. Brooks remained active in a number of organiza- tions including the Women's Canadian Club (Honourary Secretary in 1909-10, 1911-12, and President for 1923-24) and was a member of the Scholarship Committee of the Canadian Federation of University Women. Brooks gave some insight into her views of women in science during a 1910 presentation on Marie Curie to the McGill Alumnae Society. Here`s an excerpt: "The combination of the ability to think in math- ematical formulas and to manipulate skillfully the whimsical instruments of a physical laboratory a combination necessary to attain eminence in physics is apparently one seldom met with in women. I may seem to run counter to generally accepted views in this but it has been my experi- ence that men are as a rule much more skillful in the manipulation of delicate and intricate work than women..." "But I must not blame entirely the difficulties besetting the higher reaches of. mathematics and our lack of deftness of hand for our neglect of the physical sciences. Their want of human interest has I think had much to do with our indifference to them. Brooks died on April 17, 1933, in Montreal and is buried in that city's Mount Royal Cemetery. She had suffered from a long time illness now thought to be a radiation -related disease. Why has Brooks been overlooked by historians of science, especially in bibliographies of women in science? Historians have a couple of explanations. Rutherford admitted it was years after Brooks' career that the significance of her experimental work became apparent. Also, we tend to focus on the more central figures in science at the turn of the century like Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. It can be argued that it is Brooks' career that is more indicative of what is was like to be an out- standing woman physicist at the turn of the centu- ry than Curie's more famous exploits. Though originally from the Exeter area, it's. not known if Brooks has any descendents here and not much is known about her before she attended uni- versity. Anyone with more information on Brooks' early life is encouraged to call the' Times -Advocate at (519) 235-1331, fax us at (519) 235-0766 or e- mail us at cbradford@ta.eedy.com. — Information courtesy: Harriet Brooks — Pioneer nuclear scientist by M.F. Rayner -Canham and G.W. Rayner-Ganham, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Coll, e, Corner Brook, Nfld. (supplied by South Huron District High School vice-principal Peter Heeney); Canadian Women: . $$ Risktakers and Changemaktos, Women Inventors Project. • Have a healthy and safe attitude when shovelling snow HURON- Winter in Midwestern Ontario has settled in with a vast amount of snow and cold wind-chill temperatures. Most people rush out to shovel their driveway and sidewalk unprepared. The strain of snow shovelling puts an increased demand on a person's heart. Just a few minutes of lifting and tossing snow can cause a dramatic increase In heart rate and blood pressure. In fact, the cardiac work- out of shovelling is equiva- lent to running on a treadmill. "The problem is that many people spend the Doff -season as couch potatoes and their bodies aren't ready for the exertion required to shovel snow", says Josee Cayer, physical activity promoter at Huron County Health Unit. • Two out of every three Canadians are risking their health and quality of life by not being active enough. The new Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living was recently released by Health Canada and offers guide- lines on how to be healthi- er by making physical activity an important part of daily life. The activity guide gives examples of how much and how often adults need to be physically active to stay healthy.. "People need to realize that they should maintain a certain level of activity all year long to be .able to handle tasks like shovellingsnow", Cayer says. Here are some tips to -help prevent cardiac -problems and back injury from cold weather activities like snow shovelling. • Maintain a regular physical activity program. People who are active on a regular basis will have less chance of injury. • Warm up before going outside. Do some gradual stretching and loosening up activities • Dress warmly. • Start shovelling slowly. • Bend your knees, not your waist, when lifting snow. Whenever possible, push or sweep snow rather than lifting it. • Keel your back straight and use the strength in your legs and not in your back. • Avoid inhaling cold air by wearing a scarf. • Wear boots with, treads to prevent slipping or falling. • Take a break. When you're tired to reduce your risk of injury. • See your family physician if you experience any chest discomfort. To obtain a free copy of the new Physical Activity Guide, call the Healthy Lifestyle Team, Huron County Health Unit at 482-3416 or 1-800-265-51'84 or you can get it on the Internet at www.paguide.com.