Harriet Brooks

1876 - 1933

1876

Born in Canada

1894

Harriet started at McGill University, they only started admitting women in 1884. She graduated in 1898 with first rank honors in mathematics and natural philosophy.

1898

Ernst Rutherford arrived at McGill University in September, Harriet was invited to join his research group as his first graduate student.

1899

Harriet’s first research project on the damping of electrical oscillations was completed and published.

1901

Harriet expanded her first paper for her Master’s Thesis published in 1901.

In the Fall she travels to the US to continue her graduate studies at Bryn Mawr.

1902

Harriet get’s a scholarship from Bryn Mawr to travel to the Cavendish laboratory to work with Rutherford, and J. J. Thomson on radioactive emanations. She works for a year and returns to McGill to work with Rutherford. She gets an offer for a position of tutor of physics at Barnard College, Columbia University.

1906

While working at Barnard, Harriet becomes engaged. She is forced to step down from her position if she is to be married. It becomes such a big issue it ends up breaking up the engagement. Harriet returns to Europe, but this time Paris to work in the Curie Institute as an independent worker with A. Debierne on the gaseous emanations (radon -219) from actinium and one of its decay products.

1907

Marries Frank Pitcher a physics professor from McGill which ends the research career of Harriet.