Science Quickly The hidden genius behind nonreflective glass
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Jan 30, 2026 Katie Hafner, journalist and co-creator of Lost Women of Science, recounts the life of Katharine Burr Blodgett, a pioneering physicist-chemist. She describes months of archival sleuthing and why Blodgett’s molecule-thin coatings led to nonreflective glass. The conversation touches on early nanotechnology, barriers women faced in science, and a surprising archival discovery.
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Value Of Corporate Pure Research
- Pure science pursues fundamental questions without immediate commercial aims.
- General Electric once funded such research deeply, enabling discoveries like Blodgett's.
A Singular Career Goal
- Katharine Burr Blodgett entered physics young and pursued one workplace: General Electric.
- Her choice tied to family history and a traumatic murder that motivated her career path.
Career Barriers For Women Scientists
- Women in early 20th-century science faced institutional bans on marriage and severe career limits.
- Blodgett avoided marriage and still advanced to earn a PhD and work in elite labs.