Layers of Brilliance: The 'House of Magic' -- Episode Two
About this episode
The episode explores Katharine Burr Blodgett's early career at General Electric and her relationship with Irving Langmuir in a male-dominated field.
Katharine Burr Blodgett arrives at The General Electric Company’s legendary research laboratory in Schenectady, New York, known as the “House of Magic.” She was just 20 years old when she entered a world built almost entirely for men. She joins as assistant to the brilliant and eccentric Irving Langmuir, a star chemist whose fundamental work in materials science and light bulbs would bring fame to him, and fortune to GE. The General Electric Company was an obvious choice for a brilliant young scientist. But was it the promise of scientific discoveries that drew Katharine to Schenectady or the need to confront the personal tragedy that marked the place where her own story began? Perhaps it was both. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
People in this episode
Guest: Katharine Burr Blodgett
Topics covered
- women in science
- materials science
- historical figures
- chemistry
- personal tragedy
- research laboratories
Keywords
- Katharine Burr Blodgett
- Irving Langmuir
- General Electric
- House of Magic
- materials science
- chemistry
- women in science
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The General Electric Company, General Electric Company
Places: Schenectady, New York
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- Elizabeth Roboz Einstein: The Determined Genius Behind a Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough
- Conversation: If I Am Right, and I Know I Am: Inge Lehmann, the Woman Who Discovered Earth’s Innermost Secret
- BONUS: Agnes Pockels and the Kitchen Sink Myth
- Layers of Brilliance: Vanishing Act -- Episode Six
- Layers of Brilliance: The Self You Have to Live With - Episode Five
- Layers of Brilliance: The Breakthrough - Episode Four
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