Telkes was an modern scientist acknowledged for her contributions to photo voltaic power applied sciences.
Hungarian-American scientist Maria Telkes is thought for her contributions to photo voltaic power applied sciences.
Telkes, who died in 1995, invented the photo voltaic distiller in addition to the primary solar-powered heating system designed for residences.
On Monday, Google modified its emblem in 12 international locations to a doodle, or illustration, in her honor.
That is her story:
youth
- Telkes was born on December 12, 1900, in Budapest, Hungary. She was the daughter of Aladar and Maria Laban de Telkes.
- Capturing power from the solar was an concept that intrigued scientists from an early age.
- “I used to be solely 11 when a easy college experiment, the melting of sulfur, made me intensively interested by chemistry,” Telkes wrote in 1964. “My mother and father had been amused and tolerant, even after a loud however innocent explosion. Avidly studying science books, I used to be experimenting.”
- As a freshman on the College of Budapest in Hungary, she as soon as mentioned that studying the guide Power Sources of the Future by Kornel Zelovich was a defining second in her life.
- “The guide defined that the standard power sources have geographical limitations, particularly within the much less developed tropical areas, however the solar is immediately overhead within the tropics, and you do not have to discover it,” he mentioned.
- The guide defined how america was experimenting with photo voltaic power, and she or he knew that was the place to go after acquiring her diploma.
- Telkes later studied at Hungary’s Eotvos Lorand College, the place she specialised in bodily chemistry and obtained a PhD in 1924.
Rays and shine! At the moment’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates the lifetime of dr. Mária Telkes, a pioneer in photo voltaic power who’s generally known as The Solar Queen 👑
Study extra about her legacy right here → https://t.co/pGuuVif9Ra pic.twitter.com/Ks0rgPXIcA
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) December 12, 2022
Journey to the US
- The subsequent 12 months, Telkes arrived within the US and joined the Cleveland Clinic Basis as a biophysicist. Throughout her time there, she labored on know-how that enabled scientists to file mind waves.
- She grew to become an American citizen in 1937. Throughout World Struggle II, she was working on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise (MIT) as a member of its photo voltaic power committee.
- “Dr Godfrey Lowell Cabot was the primary to acknowledge the significance of systematic Photo voltaic Power Conversion,” Telkes wrote. “He created a basis for this goal at [MIT]. I joined this group, being one of many comparatively few ladies analysis associates at MIT for the following 13 years.”
- Amid the struggle, Telkes developed a solar-powered water desalination machine, finishing a prototype in 1942. Her invention helped US troopers posted alongside seas get clear water.
- MIT additionally tasked Telkes and her colleagues with creating liveable solar-heated houses. Nonetheless, her proposed design failed and she or he was faraway from the committee.
‘Unattainable issues curiosity me’
- Regardless of the setback, Telkes’s analysis continued. In 1948, on the age of 48, she, in partnership with architect Eleanor Raymond, designed the world’s first fashionable residence heated with photo voltaic power.
- “It’s the issues imagined to be not possible that curiosity me. I love to do issues they are saying can’t be executed,” Telkes mentioned throughout an interview in 1942.
- At 53, she acquired a $45,000 grant from the Ford Basis to create a common photo voltaic oven.
‘The Solar Queen’
- In 1972, Telkes additionally helped construct the primary home to generate each warmth and electrical energy from the solar. 9 years later, she helped the US authorities to develop the primary totally solar-powered house.
- She acquired the Society of Ladies Engineers Achievement Award in 1952. She retired at 77 and acquired a lifetime achievement award from the Nationwide Academy of Sciences Constructing Analysis Advisory Board.
- Telkes additionally has greater than 20 patents to her credit score. Her contributions to the photo voltaic power subject earned her the nickname the “Solar Queen”.
- After spending a number of many years within the US, Telkes returned in 1995 to Hungary, the place she handed away 10 days earlier than her ninety fifth birthday.
