Hidden In Plain Sight

Credit: Carlyn Iverson, NOAA Climate.gov

I thought I was familiar with most of the foundational figures in meteorology; as it turns out, though, “you don’t know what you don’t know” is an important adage to keep in mind at any point through one’s career.

The story of Eunice Foote – an amateur woman scientist active in the mid 1800s – is an interesting and important discovery story proving a link between greenhouse gases and atmospheric warming. Ms. Foote’s experiment (so elegantly simple, it’s still suitable for middle- and high-school aged learners today) was the first to demonstrate, document, and report the connection … three years before John Tyndall was credited with the same accomplishment.

Sharing this story with several colleagues, I learned that they, too, had not heard of Foote. In addition to seeing credit given where credit is due, I hope that this story will serve as a reminder about the prevalence of sexism within our science world, then and now.