Brooks, Harriet National Historic Person
Montréal, Quebec
Harriet Brooks, 1898
(© Wm. Notman & Son / Musée McCord Museum / II-123880)
Address :
809 Sherbrooke Street West, Macdonald-Stewart Library Building, Montréal, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2005-11-28
Life Date:
1876 to 1933
Other Name(s):
-
Harriet Brooks
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2004-073
Importance:
Pioneer of the study of radioactivity; forefront of women endeavouring to carve out careers for themselves in individual scientific research
Plaque(s)
Harriet Brooks was a pioneer in the new field of radioactivity at the turn of the 20th century. Her research on radium and thorium at McGill University contributed to the development of the theory of the “transmutation of elements,” which challenged the three-centuries-old foundation of physics. Brooks was at the forefront of women in science when she gave up her outstanding career in 1906 to marry. This physicist demonstrated that women could succeed in research, thus extending their place beyond the accepted role of making science accessible through teaching and writing.