Mabel Augusta Chase

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Mabel Augusta Chase
Portrait of Mabel Augusta Chase taken during her time as a Professor at Mount Holyoke College.
Chase, as a professor at Mount Holyoke College (1906–1933)
BornOctober 11, 1865 (1865-10-11)
DiedMarch 31, 1939 (1939-04-01) (aged 73)
Alma materOberlin College, Cornell University
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsMount Holyoke College
Sitting in the Wellesley physics laboratory, Chase places her hand on a glass photographic plate on a table below a Crookes tube, to take a radiograph of the bones in her hand.
Chase places her hand on a glass photographic plate in an experiment done in the Wellesley physics laboratory. She is taking a radiograph of the bones in her hand.

Mabel Augusta Chase (October 11, 1865 – March 31, 1939) was an American physicist and university professor.

Biography

Early life

Mabel Augusta Chase was born on October 11, 1865, in Lyndonville, New York.[1] Her parents were Julia Augusta Spence and Frederick Augustus Chase.[1] She was born as the eldest of five children, with only her two younger brothers surviving past childhood.[1]

Her father was a Presbyterian clergyman and minister as well as a professor of natural science.[2] He taught at Fisk University, a historically black university, in Nashville and was also president of Lyons Female College in Clinton, Iowa.[2] Both his passion for science and knack for teaching were passed onto his daughter, Mabel, who came to study physics.[1]

Education

Chase attended Oberlin College from 1886 to 1888 and graduated with a degree in physics.[3] She then attended Cornell University, where she obtained her master's degree[1] and her PhD,[4] finishing in 1890. She wrote her dissertation on a subject that would be a common interest throughout her life: light. Specifically, the writing studied optics and the relationship between the shape of the human eye and the perception of color.[4]

Career

After her studies, Chase became a teacher. She taught at Wellesley College,[5] Mount Holyoke College,[6] and other Massachusetts area schools[3] until she became an associate professor at Mount Holyoke in 1906.[7] She was a professor at Mount Holyoke from 1906 to 1933 and achieved the title of Professor Emeritus.[8] She was seen as the second in command of the physics department[9] during her time and mentored students and other professors.[10] Students described her as not very organized but very understanding and a good teacher.[9]

In addition to teaching, she conducted research and published her findings.[11] Her work throughout her career was varied but mostly centered around research and advancements in light and color.[11] Scientific journals published some of her work on light and iridescence.[12] Her work on advanced topics in physics[13] took her to other institutions, including the University of Chicago and the Imperial College of London.[1]

Along her own research, she also worked closely with Sarah Frances Whiting in establishing a physics laboratory at Wellesley College and investigating x-rays.[14] Their experiments were based on newly published work by German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen.[14] They used the same equipment which included a Crookes tube, an induction coil,[15] a battery, glass plates and holders, and photographic chemicals to produce "shadow photographs" or x-ray images.[14] While experimenting, they varied the objects examined, the timing of the photograph, and the materials used, in order to improve image quality and learn how x-rays would penetrate materials of different material and makeup.[14]

During her life and career, Chase was a member of various esteemed organizations related to her academic endeavors.[1] She was a member of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of University Women, and the Foreign Policy Association.[1]

Later life and legacy

Chase retired from Mount Holyoke College in 1933.[8] She died on March 31, 1939, after being injured in a car accident.[16] Like her father before her, Chase was buried in Nashville, Tennessee.[2][16] She remains regarded as one of the most active and knowledgeable woman scientists in the field of physics during the early 20th century.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  2. ^ a b c "Frederick A. Chase Papers | RBSCP". rbscp.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  3. ^ a b Oberlin College (1909). ... General catalogue of Oberlin college, 1833 [-] 1908. Including an account of the principal events in the history of the college, with illustrations of the college buildings. University of California Libraries. Oberlin, O., Oberlin college.
  4. ^ a b Chase, Mabel Augusta. "The Fundamental Colour Curves of the Human Eye." PhD diss., Cornell University, 1890.
  5. ^ Wellesley Junior Class. Legenda. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College, 1897. https://repository.wellesley.edu/islandora/object/wellesley%3A610/datastream/OBJ/download.
  6. JSTOR community.23026268
  7. doi:10.1126/science.24.614.448
  8. ^ a b "Mabel Augusta Chase". 2014-10-03. Archived from the original on 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  9. ^ a b Physics, American Institute of (2021-09-24). "Lucy Wilson - Session I". www.aip.org. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  10. ^ "Collection: Mildred Allen papers | Mount Holyoke and Hampshire College archives". aspace.fivecolleges.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-262-15031-6, 978-0-262-65038-0
    .
  12. doi:10.1126/science.55.1419.263
  13. ISBN 978-1-55861-587-8, 978-1-55861-594-6
    .
  14. ^
    doi:10.1063/PT.3.4545
  15. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4647
  16. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  17. ^ Wróblewski, Andrzej K. “Physics 1909: A Portrait of the Field 100 Years Ago.” Acta Physica Polonica B 41, no. 2 (n.d.): 229–48. https://www.actaphys.uj.edu.pl/fulltext?series=Reg&vol=41&page=229.
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