Friday Funnies

I hope that you all enjoy the first weekend of spring (although it does not feel like spring around here).

True Life Tuesday: Ellen Swallow Richards

Ellen Henrietta Swallow was born on December 3, 1842 in Dunstable, Massachusetts. She was the only child of Peter and Fanny nee Gould Taylor Swallow. While her parents were both from modest means they held education in a high value. During her early years she was homeschooled. In 1859 the family moved to Westford, Massachusetts where she attended Westford Academy. She was very proficient in Latin which allowed her to also study French and German. She was in high demand as a tutor and used the money she earned to further her education. In May 1862 she developed measles which interrupted her preparations to become a teacher. In June 1864 she took a teaching position when her family moved to Littleboro, Massachusetts. She did not teach in 1865 and spent the year running the family store and taking care of her ill mother. 

In September 1868 she entered Vassar College from where she graduated with her Bachelors degree in 1870. In December 1870 she was admitted to MIT as a special student in chemistry after a vote by the faculty. This made her the first woman to be admitted to the school. She graduated with her Bachelors degree in 1873. She continued her advanced studies at the school but the administration balked at granting her an advanced degree. 

On June 4, 1875 she married Robert Hallowell Richards. He was the chairman of the mine engineering department at MIT. The couple took up residence in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. With her husband's support she stayed on at MIT as a volunteer. She also worked with the Woman's Laboratory which assisted mostly teachers with learning how to conduct scientific experiments. She also worked as an unpaid chemistry lecturer from 1873-78. Starting in 1884 until her death Ellen also taught at the newly founded laboratory of sanitary chemistry at the Lawrence Experiment Station. She also held several positions with the state of Massachusetts including as a consulting chemist for the State Board of Health from 1872-5 and as the official water analyst from 1887-97. In her work she focused on air and water quality, mineralogy and home sanitation. She was also heavily involved in women's education and in home economic initiatives.

Ellen died on March 30, 1911 at her home in Jamaica Plain after suffering from angina. She was buried in her family cemetery in Gardiner, Maine. In 1973 MIT established the Ellen Shallow Richards Professorship for distinguished female faculty. Her home in Jamaica Plain was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. She was also inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. Finally, in 2011 she was listed as #8 on the MIT150 list, a list of the 150 best innovators and ideas from the school.

Friday Funnies

I hope that everyone out there enjoys their upcoming weekend.

Three on Thursday

As another week comes to an end these are the things I am currently thankful for.

1) Having more daylight at the end of the day.

2) That Preston has a spot for summer camp this year.

3) That Preston seems to be over whatever bug he has been dealing with this week.

Currently I Am ...

Watching: The Conners

Reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant

Knitting: the March preemie hat and Rick Rack Braid Hat 

Eating: we had Hungry Howie's for dinner

Drinking: Cherry Coke Zero

Feeling: happy having more light at the end of the day

Weather: today was sunny with temps in the 40s

Needing: Preston to get better. He missed school on Monday and Tuesday and will also miss tomorrow since he just vomited all over his bed

Thinking: about how to come up with the money for Preston's summer camp

 Enjoying: feeling like I might be coming out of my winter funk a bit

Friday Funnies

Have a terrific weekend. And don't to forget to spring forward tomorrow night.

True Life Tuesday: Nicole-Reine Lepaute

Nicole-Reine Lepaute nee Etable de la Briere was born on January 5, 1723 in the Luxemborg Palace in Paris. He father, Jean, was a valet for Louise Elisabeth d'Orleans. Nicole was the 6th of 9 children. As a child she was described as precocious and intelligent. She was mostly self-taught and eventually read all of the books in the palace's library. Her interest in astronomy began when she saw a comet as a child. In August 1748 she married Jean-Andre Lepaute, a royal clockmaker in the palace.

Nicole met Jerome Lalande in 1753 when he was sent to inspect her husband's work on a type of pendulum for the Academie des Sciences. She would end up working with Lalande for the next 30 years. She and Lalande along with her husband released Traite d'horlogerie (Treatise of Clockmaking) under her husband's name in 1755. In 1757 she and Lelande worked with Alexis Clairount to calculate the date of the next passage of Halley's Comet, which was last seen in 1682. In 1759 Lalande became the director of Connaissance des Temps (Knowledge of the Times) and appointed Nicole as his assistant. She made many calculations such as the position of Saturn for each day from 1775-1784 and the exact time of a solar eclipse that occurred on April 1, 1764. She was forced to stop working in 1783 due to her decreasing eyesight from so many years of doing calculations.

Nicole and her husband never had children but they did adopt his nephew, Joseph Lepaute Daglet, in 1768.She trained him in astronomy and advanced mathematics. He eventually became a mathematics professor at the Paris Military School. She would spent the last 7 years of her life taking care of her husband who was terminally ill. She died in Paris on December 6, 1788.