- Original name in full:
- Phoebe Sarah Marks
- Born:
- April 28, 1854, Portsea, Eng.
- Died:
- Aug. 26, 1923, North Lancing, Sussex (aged 69)
- Subjects Of Study:
- electric arc
Hertha Marks Ayrton
-
Who was Hertha Marks Ayrton?
Hertha Marks Ayrton (1854â1923) was a British physicist and inventor, notable as the first woman nominated as a fellow of the Royal Society.
Born in Portsea, England, she studied mathematics at Girton College, University of Cambridge, and later taught mathematics in London. In 1884, she attended electricity classes at Finsbury Technical College taught by William Ayrton; they married in 1885.
Ayrton is known for her work on electric arcs, used for lighting at the time. She discovered the cause of hissing in these arcs and proposed solutions to reduce it. In 1899, she became the first woman to present a paper before the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), later becoming its first female member. The Royal Society awarded her the Hughes Medal in 1906 for her work. She invented the "Ayrton fan" to dispel poison gas during World War I.
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What was Hertha Marks Ayrton known for?
Hertha Marks Ayrton was a British physicist known for her work on electric arcs and ripple marks in sand. In the late 1890s, she conducted experiments with electric arcs, which were then a common lighting source, and discovered the cause of their hissing and sputtering. She proposed changes to the carbon electrodes used in arc lamps, which greatly reduced the hissing.
Ayrton was the first woman to present a paper before the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 1899, and she also became the first female member of the IEE. In 1906, the Royal Society awarded her the Hughes Medal for her work on electric arcs and sand ripples. During World War I, she invented a fan to disperse poison gas from trenches.
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What kinds of scientific work did Ayrton do?
Hertha Marks Ayrton was a British physicist who conducted significant scientific work in the fields of electricity and hydrodynamics.
Ayrton is known for her experiments with the electric arc, used at the time as a lighting source in arc lamps. She discovered that the hissing and sputtering of electric arcs came from the oxidation of the positive carbon electrode. She proposed changes to the shape of the carbon electrodes, which greatly reduced the hissing.
Later, Ayrton became interested in the patterns formed by ripples in the sand and conducted experiments in hydrodynamics to explain the formation of sand ripples. During World War I, this work led to her invention of the Ayrton fan, designed to disperse poison gas from trenches.
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Why was her research on electric arcs important?
Hertha Marks Ayrton's research on electric arcs was important because she identified the cause of hissing and sputtering in arc lamps, a common lighting source at the time. She discovered that the hissing originated from the oxidation of the positive carbon electrode. Based on this finding, Ayrton proposed modifications to the shape of the carbon electrodes, which significantly reduced the hissing. In 1899, she presented her paper on this topic to the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), becoming the first woman to do so and also the first female member of the IEE.
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What challenges did Hertha Marks Ayrton face as a woman scientist?
Hertha Marks Ayrton, a British physicist, faced significant challenges as a woman in science during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although she completed her education at Cambridge, the university did not grant degrees to women.
Ayrton's nomination to become a fellow of the Royal Society was denied because lawyers advised that its charter did not allow married women members. Despite these obstacles, she became the first woman to present a scientific paper before the Royal Society in 1904 and was awarded the Hughes Medal in 1906 for her work.
During this period, women were actively campaigning for equal educational rights, and some pioneers succeeded despite social obstacles. Some women scientists benefited from the "harem effect," where male scientists employed them as assistants.
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How did Hertha Marks Ayrton contribute to the rights of women in science?
Hertha Marks Ayrton significantly contributed to women's rights in science through her pioneering achievements and active involvement in the women's suffrage movement.
As the first woman to present a paper before the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 1899, she broke barriers and became the first female member of the IEE. Although the Royal Society denied her fellowship nomination in 1902 because she was a married woman, she persisted and became the first woman to read a scientific paper to the Royal Society in 1904.
Ayrton was also an active member of the Womenâs Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1907, and a major financial contributor. Her home served as a place of recovery for suffragettes, such as Emmeline Pankhurst, who had gone on hunger strikes.
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Hertha Marks Ayrton (born April 28, 1854, Portsea, Eng.âdied Aug. 26, 1923, North Lancing, Sussex) was a British physicist who was the first woman nominated to become a fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1861 Marksâs father died, and two years later she went to live with her aunt, author Marion Moss Hartog, who ran a school in London. When she was a teenager, Marks changed her first name to Hertha, after the German earth goddess of Algernon Swinburneâs poem âHerthaâ (1869), and renounced Judaism to become an agnostic.
In 1876 Marks entered Girton College at the University of Cambridge, where she studied mathematics. There she became a friend of Barbara Bodichon, who had cofounded Girton College, and the writer George Eliot, who based the character of Mirah Cohen in her novel Daniel Deronda (1876) on Marks. Cambridge did not offer degrees to women, but Marks did complete her education by taking Cambridgeâs mathematics examinations, the tripos, in 1881. She then became a teacher of mathematics at high schools in London. In 1884 she invented a type of line divider for use in drafting.
Marks in 1884 attended classes in electricity at Finsbury Technical College that were taught by electrical engineer William Ayrton. They married in 1885. Aside from a series of lectures on electricity to women in 1888, she did not return to science until 1891. In 1893 William was attending a meeting on electricity in Chicago, and in his absence she continued her husbandâs experiments with the electric arc, which was then used as a lighting source in arc lamps. Electric arcs had a tendency to hiss and sputter before settling down and delivering a consistent light. Ayrton discovered the origin of the hissing in the oxidation of the positive carbon electrode and proposed changes in the shape of the carbon electrodes that greatly reduced the period of hissing.
In 1899 Ayrton read her paper on the hissing of the electric arc to the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). She was the first woman to do so and also became the first woman member of the IEE. That same year she demonstrated her arc experiments at the Conversazione, a public event sponsored by the Royal Society. In 1901, when William was recovering from exhaustion at the seaside town of Margate, Ayrton became interested in the patterns formed by ripples in the sand. She conducted experiments in hydrodynamics to explain the formation of sand ripples. She was nominated to become a fellow of the Royal Society in 1902; however, lawyers advised the Royal Society that its charter would not allow the admission of married women members. Ayrton became the first woman to read a scientific paper (âThe Origin and Growth of Ripple-markâ) before the Royal Society in 1904. In 1906 the Royal Society awarded her the Hughes Medal, which is awarded for distinguished work in the physical sciences, for her arc and sand-ripple experiments.
Ayrton became active in the woman suffrage movement, and she joined the Womenâs Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1907. She became one of the WSPUâs largest contributors; in some years she donated more than ÂŁ1,000. Suffragettes, such as Emmeline Pankhurst, who had gone on hunger strikes often recuperated at her home. In 1912 Ayrton received ÂŁ7,000 from the WSPU to forestall government seizure of the WSPUâs account. That same year her friend Polish-born French physicist Marie Curie stayed with her as Curie recovered from a kidney operation.
During World War I Ayrtonâs interest in hydrodynamics led her to invent a cotton fan that would disperse poison gas from trenches. About 100,000 of the âAyrton fansâ were produced, but they proved ineffective in actual combat conditions. After the war she worked on modified versions of the fan for use by workers in mines and sewers.
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