Caroline Herzenberg

Last updated
Caroline Herzenberg
Born (1932-03-25) March 25, 1932 (age 92)
East Orange, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMIT, University of Chicago
SpouseLeonardo Herzenberg (deceased)
ChildrenKaren Ann Herzenberg and Catherine Stuart Herzenberg
Scientific career
FieldsLow energy nuclear physics, Mössbauer spectrometry
Thesis  (1958)
Doctoral advisor Samuel K. Allison

Caroline Stuart Littlejohn Herzenberg (born March 25, 1932) is an American physicist.

Contents

Biography

Caroline Herzenberg was born Caroline Stuart Littlejohn to Caroline Dorothea Schulze and Charles Frederick Littlejohn on March 25, 1932, in East Orange, New Jersey. [1] [2] In the aftermath of the Great Depression, her parents decided to move to Oklahoma City Oklahoma to join his sister, Hilda Littlejohn Will and her family. Herzenberg grew up and attended public school in Oklahoma City. [3] [4] In 1961 she married Leonardo Herzenberg and is the mother of two grown children, Karen Ann Herzenberg and Catherine Stuart Herzenberg Larson. [1] [4] She lives in Hyde Park, Chicago.

After winning the Westinghouse Science Talent Search in high school, Herzenberg attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [2] She was one of very few women students at M.I.T. at that time. She was awarded a bachelor's degree by M.I.T. in 1953. [4] [5]

For graduate study she went on to the University of Chicago. [2] [6] She took a class with Enrico Fermi and subsequently conducted some calculations for him. She went on to receive her master's degree from the University of Chicago in 1955. [7] For doctoral work she turned to Samuel K. Allison, who became her thesis advisor. Her thesis research, in experimental physics, was in low energy nuclear physics, and was conducted on the 3 Mev Van de Graaff accelerator in the Research Institutes. She was awarded a PhD in 1958 by the University of Chicago. [8]

Herzenberg continued at the University of Chicago for another year as a postdoctoral fellow and a research associate at the Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago. She then went on to become a research associate in the Physics Division of Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. [2] In 1961 Herzenberg became an assistant professor of physics at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where she worked for five years as director of the high-voltage laboratory and the Van de Graaff accelerator, and directed experimental nuclear physics and Mössbauer research programs, supervising MS and PhD theses and undergraduate and graduate physics instruction. [2]

After being denied tenure at Illinois Institute of Technology, she worked at IIT Research Institute from 1967 to 1971 as a research physicist and then as a senior physicist. [2] At IIT Research Institute, she conducted her work as a principal investigator in the NASA Apollo returned lunar sample analysis program, and continued applications of Mössbauer spectrometry. Subsequently, she held a position as a visiting associate professor of physics at the University of Illinois at the Medical Center from 1971 to 1974. [2] She was responsible for organization, instruction, and planning for the College of Pharmacy, and she supervised graduate laboratory instruction in radioisotope utilization and applications for the University of Illinois at the Medical Center. From 1975 to 1976 she spent an academic year in California at California State University, Fresno, where she was a lecturer in physics, and was involved in general physics curriculum organization and instruction and presented lectures on electromagnetic theory. [2]

Herzenberg returned to Argonne National Laboratory in 1977, and worked there until her retirement in 2001. [1] [2] [4] At Argonne during this period of time, she was engaged primarily in applied work. This involved applications of physics in engineering and in specific areas such as radiation safety. In particular, her work included engineering research relative to fossil energy utilization, as well as radioactive waste disposal, technology for arms control verification, and radiological emergency preparedness and also chemical warfare agent emergency preparedness. [9] [10] [11] Initially, in 1977, Herzenberg joined a project for developing instrumentation for process control for a new generation of coal conversion and combustion plants. Development proceeded on non-invasive techniques for measuring the composition and flow rate of coal slurries and pulverized coal in pneumatic transport in pipes. For the analysis of the composition of coal, she worked on the application of neutron-induced gamma spectrometry; while measurement of slurry flow was based on using short lived radioactivity induced in the slurry. [2] She later worked in technology assessment and evaluation of programs in areas that included fossil energy utilization, arms control verification, and radioactive waste disposal. She also worked in emergency preparedness and response for technological hazards, mainly in radiological emergency preparedness for nuclear power plants and emergency preparedness for chemical demilitarization. [2]

Herzenberg was the first scientist to be inducted into the Chicago Women's Hall of Fame. [1] [12] She was awarded an honorary Sc.D. degree by the State University of New York, Plattsburgh in 1991. [4] [13] As a result of her work, Herzenberg was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the Association for Women in Science, and served as the president of the Association for Women in Science from 1988 to 1990. [1] [14]

Research in the History of Science

Herzenberg has contributed to our knowledge of the history of women in science. She published a number of articles and chapters in books on this topic. In 1986 she authored a book titled Women Scientists from Antiquity to the Present and later in 1999 with Ruth Howes coauthored another book titled Their Day in the Sun: Women of the Manhattan Project . [1] [15] As a result of her work Herzenberg was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society, and served as president of the Association for Women in Science from 1988 to 1990. [1] [16]

Following Caroline Herzenberg's doctoral research in experimental low energy nuclear physics with Samuel K. Allison as thesis advisor, her research continued at the University of Chicago during her year of postdoctoral work when she measured the products of nuclear reactions between lithium isotopes and those of beryllium and boron; research which laid foundations for future heavy ion investigation. [2] Subsequently, her work focused on Mössbauer spectroscopy; she was engaged in pioneering research on the Mössbauer effect and was part of the team which succeeded in verifying the Mössbauer effect. [17] She later established Mössbauer-effect research facilities at Illinois Institute of Technology and at IIT Research Institute. [2] Turning her focus to geological applications of the effect, Herzenberg concluded that it would be possible to analyze rocks and minerals retrieved from the Moon using Mössbauer spectrometry; and she was awarded a grant from NASA to carry out Mössbauer spectrometry during the Apollo program. [1] She served as a principal investigator in the NASA Apollo Returned Lunar Sample Analysis Program, and analyzed some of the first returned lunar samples as well as material from subsequent sample returns. [1] [18]

Herzenberg has authored or coauthored hundreds of scientific and technical papers, and has written a number of chapters in books dealing with scientific and technical topics. [2] [16]

Further Activities

Caroline Herzenberg has had a longstanding interest in certain societal issues, largely centering on peace and justice and human rights issues, but also including related concerns. Already when she was an undergraduate at M.I.T., she participated in student group support of M.I.T. mathematics professor Dirk Jan Struik when he had drawn the unwelcome attention of Senator Joseph McCarthy after the advent of McCarthyism. Throughout much of her adult life, she has worked very extensively and successfully on women's issues, especially issues relating to women in science, notably with the Association for Women in Science. In conjunction with concerns about ethical issues, she developed some recognized guidelines on ethical issues in physics. [19] A foray into politics, seeking a position as an alderman in Freeport, Illinois, was unsuccessful, but the experience guided her efforts in related activities. While in Freeport, she developed and presented a television series on science, "Camera on Science". [20] National attention was directed at her when in 1986 she conducted independent research and published a short paper showing that Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) weapons under development for use in defense would also be able to be used offensively. [21] [22] Following her retirement, Herzenberg has been active as a citizen in a variety of ways, including engaging in demonstrations and vigils in support of peace and justice and human rights and related endeavors. She has participated with the American Friends Service Committee, the 8th Day Center for Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace and a number of other groups. [23] She occasionally writes popular material, including correspondence to newspapers. [24] In her leisure time, Herzenberg enjoys bird watching, usually in nearby Jackson Park (Chicago).

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melba Phillips</span> American physicist and science educator

Melba Newell Phillips was an American physicist and a pioneer science educator. One of the first doctoral students of J. Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley, Phillips completed her PhD in 1933, a time when few women could pursue careers in science. In 1935, Oppenheimer and Phillips published their description of the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, an early contribution to nuclear physics that explained the behavior of accelerated nuclei of radioactive hydrogen atoms. Phillips was also known for her refusal to cooperate with a U.S. Senate judiciary subcommittee's investigation on internal security during the McCarthy era which led to her dismissal from her professorship at Brooklyn College, where she was a professor of science from 1938 until 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Weston Pickett</span> American chemist (1904-1997)

Lucy Weston Pickett was a Mary Lyon Professor and Camille and Henry Dreyfus Chair in Chemistry at Mount Holyoke College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leona Woods</span> American nuclear physicist (1919–1986)

Leona Harriet Woods, later known as Leona Woods Marshall and Leona Woods Marshall Libby, was an American physicist who helped build the first nuclear reactor and the first atomic bomb.

Miriam Rafailovich is an American materials engineering researcher. She is the director of the Garcia Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Stony Brook University as well as former co-director of the Chemical and Molecular Engineering program at Stony Brook University. Her publications focus mainly on nanoscale materials engineering, including nanofibers, supercritical carbon dioxide, and biodegradable polymers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin C. Graves</span> American nuclear physicist

Alvin Cushman Graves was an American nuclear physicist who served at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory and the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. After the war, he became the head of the J (Test) Division at Los Alamos and was director or assistant director of numerous nuclear weapons tests during the 1940s and 1950s. Graves was severely injured in the 1946 laboratory criticality accident in Los Alamos that killed Louis Slotin, but recovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Frances Winston Newson</span> American mathematician (1869-1959)

Mary Frances Winston Newson was an American mathematician. She became the first female American to receive a PhD in mathematics from a European university, namely the University of Göttingen in Germany. She was also the first person to translate Hilbert's problems into English.

Gladys Amelia Anslow was an American physicist who spent her career at Smith College. She was the first woman to work with the cyclotron at the University of California, Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fay Ajzenberg-Selove</span> American nuclear physicist

Fay Ajzenberg-Selove was an American nuclear physicist. She was known for her experimental work in nuclear spectroscopy of light elements, and for her annual reviews of the energy levels of light atomic nuclei. She was a recipient of the 2007 National Medal of Science.

Joan B. Berkowitz was an American chemist. Her areas of research included materials for the space program, reusable molds for spacecraft construction built from molybdenum disilicides and tungsten disilicides, and the disposal and treatment of hazardous wastes. She was the first woman to serve as president of The Electrochemical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renate Chasman</span>

Renate Wiener Chasman was a physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrtle Bachelder</span> American chemist and Womens Army Corps officer

Myrtle Claire Bachelder was an American chemist and Women's Army Corps officer, who is noted for her secret work on the Manhattan Project atomic bomb program, and for the development of techniques in the chemistry of metals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katharine Way</span> American physicist

Katharine "Kay" Way was an American physicist best known for her work on the Nuclear Data Project. During World War II, she worked for the Manhattan Project at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago. She became an adjunct professor at Duke University in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoylande Young</span> American chemist

Hoylande Denune Young Failey was an American chemist. During World War II she worked at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory. After the war she became the first woman to be appointed as a division head at the Argonne National Laboratory, and the first woman to chair the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Gracia Beery Mack</span> American chemist (1891–1974)

Pauline Gracia Beery Mack was an American chemist, home economist, and college administrator. Her research in calcium, nutrition, radiation, and bone density began during the 1930s, and culminated in work for NASA when she was in her seventies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret D. Foster</span> American chemist (1895–1970)

Margaret Dorothy Foster was an American chemist. She worked for the United States Geological Survey, and was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project. She wrote dozens of research papers on the chemistry of the natural world and assaying methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Hamilton Hall</span> American physicist

Jane Hamilton Hall was an American physicist. During World War II she worked on the Manhattan Project. After the war she remained at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she oversaw the construction and start up of the Clementine nuclear reactor. She became assistant director of the laboratory in 1958. She was secretary of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1956 until 1959, and was a member of the committee from 1966 to 1972.

Elizabeth Amy Kreiser Weisburger was an American chemist who made significant contributions in medicine and chemistry, specifically chemical carcinogenesis. She worked for nearly 40 years at the National Cancer Institute and received multiple awards for her work. Weisburger's research in chemical carcinogenesis was necessary in order to find treatments for cancer. Some of Weisburger's work included studying carcinogenesis, looking at the activity of carcinogens, and determining the dangers of chemotherapy drugs. Elizabeth Weisburger is considered a pioneer in chemical carcinogenesis.

Mary Beth Stearns was an American solid-state physicist known for her work on magnetism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nora Mohler</span> American physicist

Nora May Mohler was an American physicist, elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Hall (scientist)</span> American nuclear scientist and poisons expert

Cynthia Hall was an American nuclear scientist and expert in poisons. She worked on the Manhattan Project at the Argonne National Laboratory, where she was one of the few female African American scientists assigned to the project.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Elizabeth H. Oakes (2007). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Infobase Publishing. pp. 327–328. ISBN   978-1-4381-1882-6 . Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Louise S. Grinstein; Rose K. Rose; Miriam H. Rafailovich, eds. (1993). Women in Chemistry and Physics . Greenwood Press. pp.  243–246. ISBN   0-313-27382-0.
  3. ↑ Tina Garrett (May 9, 1992). "Caroline Herzenberg – Class of 1953" (PDF). Interviews of the Margaret MacVicar Memorial AMITA Oral History Project. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Barbara Hutmacher MacLean (1997). I can't do what? Voices of Pathfinding Women. Pathfinder Publishing. ISBN   0-934793-62-X.
  5. ↑ American Men & Women of Science 17th Edition Volume 3. R.R. Bowker. 1989. p. 682.
  6. ↑ Emily J. McMurray; Jane Kelly Kosek; Roger M. Valade III (1995). Notable Twentieth-century Scientists . Gale Research. ISBN   0-8103-9181-3.
  7. ↑ American Men & Women of Science, 17th edition, Vol. 3. R.R. Bowker. 1989. p. 682.
  8. ↑ American Men & Women of Science, 17th edition, Vol. 3. R.R. Bowker. 1989. p. 682.
  9. ↑ Louise S. Grinstein; Rose K. Rose; Miriam H. Rafailovich, eds. (1993). Women in Chemistry and Physics. Greenwood Press. p.  248. ISBN   0-313-27382-0.
  10. ↑ Martha J. Bailey (1998). American Women in Science 1950 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. p. 170. ISBN   0-87436-921-5.
  11. ↑ Tiffany K. Wayne (2011). American Women of Science since 1900 Vol. I. ABC-CLIO. p. 506. ISBN   978-1-59884-158-9.
  12. ↑ "Women's Hall Of Fame Welcomes 12 Inductees". Chicago Tribune. 1989. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  13. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Awarded". State University of New York Plattsburgh. 1996. Retrieved 2014-05-04.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ "APS Fellowship". American Physical Society. 1989. p. 4.
  15. ↑ Martha J. Bailey (1998). American Women in Science. Abc-Clio Incorporated. p. 169. ISBN   0-87436-921-5 . Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  16. 1 2 University of California (April 30, 1997). "Caroline Stuart Littlejohn Herzenberg". Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  17. ↑ Tiffany K. Wayne (2011). American Women of Science since 1900 Volume I. ABC-CLIO. p. 505. ISBN   978-1-59884-158-9.
  18. ↑ Who's Who in Science and Engineering 5th Edition. Marquis Who's Who. 1999. p. 556.
  19. ↑ Herzenberg, Caroline L. (1996). Ethical Issues in Physics: Ethical Harassment. Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse.
  20. ↑ "'Camera on Science' Show to be Weekly". Freeport Journal-Standard. 1974-10-15.
  21. ↑ Louise S. Grinstein; Rose K. Rose; Miriam H. Rafailovich, eds. (1993). Women in Chemistry and Physics. Greenwood Press. p.  248. ISBN   0-313-27382-0.
  22. ↑ C. G. Weeramantry (2000). Nuclear Weapons and Scientific Responsibility. Springer. p. 199. ISBN   90-411-1289-8.
  23. ↑ "8th Day Center for Justice". 8th Day Center for Justice. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  24. ↑ "PEN PALS Profiles of Tribune letter writers: Caroline Herzenberg". The Tribune Company. 2011. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.