Maria Telkes: Why Google honours her at this time | Science and Know-how Information

Telkes was an revolutionary scientist recognised for her contributions to the photo voltaic power applied sciences.

Hungarian-American scientist Maria Telkes is understood for her contributions to solar energy technologies.

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 honour.

That is her story:

Adolescence

• Telkes was born on December 12, 1990, in Budapest, Hungary. She was the daughter of Aladar and Maria Laban de Telkes.
• Capturing power from the solar was an concept that intrigued the scientist from an early age.
• “I used to be solely 11 when a easy faculty experiment, the melting of sulphur, 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 ebook Power Sources of the Future by Kornel Zelovich was a defining second in her life.
• “The ebook 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 also you shouldn’t have to probe for it,” she mentioned.
• The ebook defined how america was experimenting with photo voltaic power, and he or she 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 often called The Solar Queen 👑

Be taught 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 following yr, Telkes arrived within the US and joined the Cleveland Clinic Basis as a biophysicist. Throughout her time there, she labored on expertise that enabled scientists to report mind waves.
• She grew to become an American citizen in 1937. Throughout World Battle II, she was working on the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT) as a member of its photo voltaic power committee.
• “Dr Godfrey Lowell Cabot was the primary to recognise the significance of systematic Photo voltaic Power Conversion,” Telkes wrote. “He created a basis for this objective at [MIT]. I joined this group, being one of many comparatively few girls 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 properties. Nevertheless, her proposed design failed and he or she 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 trendy residence heated with photo voltaic power.
• “It’s the issues speculated to be unimaginable that curiosity me. I love to do issues they are saying can’t be performed,” Telkes mentioned throughout an interview in 1942.
• At 53, she obtained 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 absolutely solar-powered house.
• She obtained the Society of Ladies Engineers Achievement Award in 1952. She retired at 77 and obtained 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 area 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.