Evening star., 1930-12-07

Ellen Richards was among the first
ever TO apply chemistry to an elaborate
study Of food and its proper prepara-
ton. She did pioneer work In home
economies, and for 81 years she In
structed in sanitary chemistry-the
first course Of its kind in the world.
During the last three years of her life
she was consulted on food problems by
almost 200 institutions Of one kind and
another. And at the same time she
acted as general sanitary adviser to 10
corporations and schools. She could
have distinguished herself by pure re-
search in chemistry. But the work that
she chose she considered far more i'm
portant. She had a good time, so she
didn't care about fame. And. of course.
she was spared that triviality, as you
will find II you ask any adult about
Ellen Richards.
And who. little children, was Sonya
Kovalevsky? A Bclshevik lady? Oh
no! Wrong againl Wrong again! For
just 81 years ago brilliant young
Russian girl told herself that she
wanted to spend the most of her life
studying strange symbols and elaborate
| equations. for she liked mathematics
But ladies couldn't do that in the
good old days in Russia So Sonya,
being resourceful, took unto herself q
spouse who would take her to Ger
many, where women could study.
Fought for Degree.
All was we'll until Sonya found that
I public lectures were not open to women
What to do? Why. hire private teach
erS, Of course. Which she promptly
did, and when she was "a the Univer-
Sity OF Gottngen gave her a degree in
ahsentia. Mote to Phi. ID. students:
Her three dissertations were of such
remarkable excellence that she didn't
even have to take her orals)
| Going to Sweden as a lecturer in the
chair Of mathematics In Stockholm, she
was soon made fun professor for her
extraordinary work. And her greatest
achievement was the solution of the
problem OF perfecting IN one important
point the theory Of the movement of a
solid body round an immovable point"
You may not find this remarkableI But
the Paris Academy which had offered
a prize for this solution, doubled it be-
cause OF the unusual distinction of her
study. Buried deep in the Britannica,
Sonya Kovalevsky has seldom had an
opportunity to achieve less austere COM
panionship. Doomed to encyclopedia
fame, she may be known now and then
by some mathematical pedant But by
whom else?
What Is the witch of Agnesi"; No,
it's not one Of the hags Of Macbeth"
It's a spec al mathematical curve in
vented by one of the most brilliant
women who ever lived. Maria Gaetana
Agnesi born In the early eighteenth GEN.
tury, was not only an extraordinary
mathematician but linguist and phi
losopher as well. At the age of 9, when
most little girls are barely getting over
| their baby liSps, the small Maria pub
llShed In Latin an elaborate treatise de-
Tending the right Of women to under
take the liberal studiesl And at IS,
when other young things are beginning
to outgrow dolls and take up boys, our
neroine was 9 linguist, with thorough
knowledge Of Greek. Hebrew, French,
Spanish, German. Latin and cher bioR-
rapher states modestly) other languages.
Studied Learned Men.
Her father was q professor of mathe-
maticS at Bologna. And when his pre-
cocious daughter was only IS she was
meeting through him the most learned
men Of her city, discussing with them
the most profound philosophical ques-
tons. She not only published a sig
the analysis of infinitesimals, but when
her father became Ill she was appointed
TO the chair OF mathematics and natural
| philosophy In his own university. She
spent the last Of her days in a convent,
| and she has now gone to Heaven, where
she has long escaped fame. Requiescat
in pace, for she Is unknown to posterity.
Do you know Mary Macarthur, the
| brilliant charmer through whose mag
nifcent efforts the English woman shop
worker Of today Is living at last decent
| lMe-after years of the most horrible
suffering, wretched housing and down
trodden drudgery? Or Elizabeth Fry.
the quaint QuakeresS, thanks to whose
gentle and endless persistence prison
reform in England became an accom-
plished factp Or Nine. Lefebre, who
conceived the idea of utilizing atmos-
phere for the production of nitrate so
years before her discovery was used. and
whoseename by that time had faded into
| oblivion?
! oh, well, hear you say those women
| lived before womanS work was recog-
nizedl Today all is different, for aren't
women at last people?
They Set World Record.
| All right. Do you know of the ex-
traordinary work Of our contemporary
Mary Douglas, and the battles she has
so triumphantly fought to establish the
New Jersey College for Women? Or the
remarkable young American woman
Rayne Prohme, who defiantly edited the
only Nationalist paper in English that
was published in China? And this in
spite Of the fact that her male prede-
ceSsor was brushed out Of the way by a
timely bullet during the bitterest of the
/ Nationalist struggles In Peiping? Eliza
beth Is Queen Of the Belgians, But do
| you know Of her prestige in advancing
| education for women throughout the
European continent?
| And how about woman inventors2
It's almost universally believed that
woman Is inferior to man In creative
mechanics and engineering: Men point
| with pity to the records OF the Patent
Once. Scarcely a woman appears there.
But the odd thing is that many ex-
cellent patents issued to men were
| conceived by women - usually the
wives of those same gentlemen, less
often their sisters. mothers, sweethearts
or employees. 1t begins TO appear in an
investigation I am making but am still
far from finishing that, particularly In
the last rs years, women have been
thinking up and perfecting more and
more valuable inventions, and not only
in the field Of household utensils.
Men Put TO Shame.
Witness Miss Eldorado Jones, who
only q few weeks ago submitted to the
experts at Roosevelt Field her own
Rirplane engine muffler, which, In open
demonstration, did what the Army has
long hoped to see realized-namely,
hush the exhaust of mighty engines
without adding much TO the weight Of
the plane or reducing the motor speed
by back pressure. How many women
are there who are achieving notably as
improvers Of modern machines7 For
every Miss Jones about whom we hear
there must be at least score who
never reach the spotlight.
Why are women so little known, even
when their work is well recognized by