Google doodle celebrates US scientist Eunice Newton Foote's 204th birthday: Who was she?
Eunice Newton Foote was born in the 1819 in US' Connecticut and laid the groundwork for the discovery of greenhouse gas effect.
Google doodle celebrated American scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote's 204th birthday on Monday with an interactive slideshow on its homepage. Newton is credited to have laid the foundation for discovery of the greenhouse effect and its role in the warming of Earth’s climate.
Newton was born in 1819 in US' Connecticut. During school days, she attended the Troy Female Seminary, an institute which emphasised science education. For Newton, science was “a life long passion…she also dedicated time to campaigning for women’s rights,” Google said, detailing a note about the doodle and Newton's life.
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Who was Eunice Newton Foote?
In 1848, Newton attended the inaugural Woman's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls. She became the fifth individual to sign the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that advocated equality for women in social and legal status.
During that era, women faced exclusion from the scientific community. However, Newton remained undeterred by these challenges, and conducted experiments independently.
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She was the first to establish a connection between increasing carbon dioxide levels and the warming of the Earth's atmosphere. “After placing mercury thermometers in glass cylinders, she discovered that the cylinder containing carbon dioxide experienced the most significant heating effect in the sun,” Google said.
'Laid foundation for discovery of greenhouse gas effect'
Newton's another major groundbreaking work was on atmospheric static electricity. It was published in the journal Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, making Newton to become the first woman to have two physics studies published in the US.
Newton's works led to the discovery of greenhouse gas effect, after her studies were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science by a male scientists in 1856. Greenhouse gas effect is the phenomenon when gases such as the carbon dioxide trap heat from the sun, it causes a gradual rise in the temperature of Earth's atmosphere.
