Google Doodle celebrates 204th birthday of Scientist Eunice Newton Foote

Born in Connecticut in 1819, Newton Foote attended a school called Troy Female Seminary that used to encourage students to attend science classes and participate in chemistry labs for experiments. Since then, science has become her lifelong passion. 

She conducted an experiment in 1856 that shaped the understanding of climate change today which involved placing various gases in cylinders and exposing them all to sunlight for observations. 

After this, Foote observed that carbon dioxide has become hotter than the other gases. She then concluded that carbon dioxide has the potential to change Earth’s temperature alone as it has the most heating effect on the Earth. Hence, she became the first scientist to discover the link between carbon dioxide levels and the warming of the atmosphere.

Her second study on atmospheric static electricity was published in the journal Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. With this, she became the first woman scientist to produce two physics studies in the United States. 

After publishing two studies, Foote’s work was presented by a male scientist at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science which led to an experiment that discovered the understanding and meaning of ‘Greenhouse effect’. 

In addition, Foote also spent time campaigning for women’s rights throughout her life. She attended the first Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848. She also became the fifth signatory of the Declaration of Sentiments. It is a document that demanded equality for women in social and legal status.

Updated: 17 Jul 2023, 06:35 AM IST