Harriet Brooks was Canada's first woman nuclear physicist. Harriet was born in Exeter, Ontario in 1876. She graduated from McGill University, Montreal, in 1898, with a BA in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. In 1899, she began research with Dr. Ernest Rutherford, the famous physicist. He encouraged her and, in 1901, she became the first woman to study at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, England, where she earned her MA. For a brief period she also worked at Marie Curie's lab in France. A year later, Harriet returned to McGill and her research with Dr. Rutherford. She was the first person to realize that one element can change into another. Harriet was also among the early discoverers of radon and she was the first researcher to attempt to determine its atomic mass. In 1907, she married Frank Pitcher, gave up her work and raised three children. Harriet Brooks died in 1933, possibly from a radiation-related illness.
Sources: Bridges June/July 1989 pg. 15, Women in Science pg. 15-16, 169, 195, 324 from Canadian Women: Risktakers & Changemakers Women Inventors Project
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