Agnes Pockels
Encyclopedia
Agnes Luise Wilhelmine Pockels (February 14, 1862 in Venice, Italy – 1935), was a German pioneer in chemistry
.
, Italy. Her father served in the Austria
n army. When he fell sick with malaria
, the family moved to Brunswick
, Lower Saxony in 1871. Already as a child, Agnes was interested in science and would have liked to study physics. In those days, however, women had no access to universities. It was only through her younger brother Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels
, who then studied at the famous University of Göttingen, that she gained access to scientific literature.
Legend has it that doing the dishes in her own kitchen Agnes discovered the influence of impurities on the surface tension
of fluids. To measure the tension she developed the Pockels trough, precursor to the Langmuir scale, and published the first stearine acid.
In 1891, with the help of Lord Rayleigh, she managed to publish her first paper "Surface Tension" in the prestigious journal "Nature". (Please see reference.) In 1931 she received, together with Henri Devaux, the Laura Leonard award from the Colloid Society. In the following year (1932) the Technische Hochschule Braunschweig
(English translation: Technical University at Brunswick) granted her an honorary PhD degree. Charles Tanford
devoted one chapter to Agnes Pockels in one of his books, as shown in the reference list.
For her whole life, she did not have a formal appointment. She did not marry and remained single for her whole life.
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
.
Biography
In 1862, she was born in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Italy. Her father served in the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n army. When he fell sick with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, the family moved to Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
, Lower Saxony in 1871. Already as a child, Agnes was interested in science and would have liked to study physics. In those days, however, women had no access to universities. It was only through her younger brother Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels
Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels
Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels was a German physicist. He was born in Italy to Captain Theodore Pockels and Alwine Becker. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1888, and from 1900 to 1913 he was professor of theoretical physics at the University of Heidelberg.In 1893 he...
, who then studied at the famous University of Göttingen, that she gained access to scientific literature.
Legend has it that doing the dishes in her own kitchen Agnes discovered the influence of impurities on the surface tension
Surface tension
Surface tension is a property of the surface of a liquid that allows it to resist an external force. It is revealed, for example, in floating of some objects on the surface of water, even though they are denser than water, and in the ability of some insects to run on the water surface...
of fluids. To measure the tension she developed the Pockels trough, precursor to the Langmuir scale, and published the first stearine acid.
In 1891, with the help of Lord Rayleigh, she managed to publish her first paper "Surface Tension" in the prestigious journal "Nature". (Please see reference.) In 1931 she received, together with Henri Devaux, the Laura Leonard award from the Colloid Society. In the following year (1932) the Technische Hochschule Braunschweig
Technische Universität Braunschweig
The TU Braunschweig is the oldest University of Technology in Germany. It was founded in 1745 as Collegium Carolinum and is a member of TU9, an incorporated society of the most renowned and largest German Institutes of Technology. Today it has about 13,000 students, making it the third largest...
(English translation: Technical University at Brunswick) granted her an honorary PhD degree. Charles Tanford
Charles Tanford
Charles Tanford was an author and one of the preeminent protein chemists of his generation. He died in York, England on October 1, 2009.-Life:Charles was born in Halle, Germany in 1921 to Majer and Charlotte Tannenbaum...
devoted one chapter to Agnes Pockels in one of his books, as shown in the reference list.
For her whole life, she did not have a formal appointment. She did not marry and remained single for her whole life.
External links
- Agnes Pockels in CWP at UCLA
- Biography in German