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Ellen Gleditsch: Pioneer Woman in Radiochemistry

Abstract.

We present the life and work of the Norwegian scientist Ellen Gleditsch (1879-1968) in the early era of radioactivity. From 1907-1912, Gleditsch worked as Marie Curie’s assistant in the Laboratoire Curie in Paris on the alleged copper-lithium radioactive transformation and on the radiumuranium ratio, as well as studying chemistry and related subjects at the Sorbonne. Later,in 1913-1914, she worked in Bertram Boltwood’s laboratory at Yale University on the half-life of radium. Gleditsch also was concerned with academic opportunities for women, and she became the president of the International Federation of University Women. As a professor, the second female professor in Norway, she initiated a research group on radioactivity at the University of Oslo.

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Correspondence to Annette Lykknes, Helge Kragh or Lise Kvittingen.

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Lykknes, A., Kragh, H. & Kvittingen, L. Ellen Gleditsch: Pioneer Woman in Radiochemistry. Phys. perspect. 6, 126–155 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-003-0187-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-003-0187-6

  • Ellen Gleditsch
  • Marie Curie
  • Bertram B. Boltwood
  • Ernest Rutherford
  • William Ramsay
  • Curie Laboratory
  • University of Oslo
  • International Federation of University Women
  • radioactivity
  • radiochemistry
  • radiogeology
  • radium
  • half-life
  • radium-uranium ratio