Frances Lowater (1871-1956) was a British-American physicist and astronomer.

Life and career

Lowater studied in England for her undergraduate degrees, at

University College, Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...

. She then moved to the United States, where she attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United Sta ...

and earned her Ph.D. in 1906. While studying for her Ph.D., she took a position as a physics demonstrator, and remained in that position until 1910. She spent a year at

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

and four years at

Rockford College Rockford or Rockfords may refer to: Places United States * Rockford, Illinois, a city, the largest municipality of this name * Rockford, Alabama, a town * Rockford, Idaho, a census-designated place * Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois, a United ...

, then moved to

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficia ...

, where she spent the rest of her career; with the exception of a year teaching at the

Western College for Women Western College for Women, known at other times as Western Female Seminary, The Western and simply Western College, was a women's and later coed liberal arts college in Oxford, Ohio, between 1855 and 1974. Initially a seminary, it was the host o ...

- from 1910 to 1911. Lowater's

spectrographic In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the Separation process, separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it ...

research examined

Mira Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–400 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a va ...

R Leonis R Leonis is a red giant Mira-type variable star located approximately 370 light years away in the constellation Leo Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Ec ...

R Serpentis R Serpentis is a Mira variable type star in the equatorial constellation of Serpens Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century a ...

, and

T Cephei T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

and studied the

absorption spectra Absorption spectroscopy refers to spectroscopic techniques that measure the absorption of radiation, as a function of frequency or wavelength, due to its interaction with a sample. The sample absorbs energy, i.e., photons, from the radiating fie ...

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide ( IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic ...

. Her research was conducted at the

Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2018. Owner ...

. She was a fellow of both the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

and the

London Physical Society The Physical Society of London, England, was a scientific society which was founded in 1874. In 1921, it was renamed the Physical Society, and in 1960 it merged with the Institute of Physics (IOP), the combined organisation eventually adopting the ...

, and helped write the third volume of the Physical Society's ''Report on Progress in Physics'' with

Wilfrid Basil Mann Wilfrid Basil Mann (4 August 1908 – 29 March 2001) was a radionuclide metrologist. He was born in Ealing, Middlesex in the United Kingdom on 4 August 1908, receiving his Doctorate in Physics from Imperial College of Science and Technology in ...

; she was also elected a member of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

. Lowater died in 1956.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowater, Frances English physicists 20th-century British astronomers 20th-century American astronomers Women astronomers 20th-century British women scientists 20th-century American physicists English emigrants to the United States Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Bryn Mawr College alumni Bryn Mawr College faculty Wellesley College faculty Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society 1871 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American women scientists American women academics

Life and career

See also

References

External links