Harriet Brooks (January 1, 1876 - January 1, 1933) was the first Canadian woman nuclear physicist. She is most famous for her research on nuclear transmutations and radioactivity. She was regarded by many, including Ernest Rutherford, as being next to Marie Curie.

She was born in Exeter , Ontario on January 1, 1876. She graduated with B.A. in mathematics and natural philosophy from McGill University in 1898.

She was the first graduate student of Ernest Rutherford (then professor at McGill University), under whom she worked immediately after graduating. With him she worked on Electricity and Magnetism for her Master's degree in 1901. She was the first ever woman at McGill to receive a Master's degree.

After her Master's again under Rutherford she also did a series of experiments to determine the nature of the radioactive emissions from thorium. These experiments served as the foundation for the development of nuclear science.

She was among the first persons to discover radon and to try to determine its atomic mass.

For a brief period she also worked under the supervision of Marie Curie.

In 1907 she married Frank Pitcher and left the field of physics since in those days it was mandatory in universities for any woman to resign from her job after getting married.

She died on her 57th birthday in 1933.

External References

• Short biography at Children of the Manhattan Project
• Article at UCLA

Bibliography

• Harriet Brooks: Pioneer Nuclear Scientist by Marelene F. Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey W. Rayner-Canham (ISBN: 0773512543)