WoW Blog (Woman of the Week) Blog

WoW Blog (Woman of the Week)

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Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

Posted June 25, 2007 3:42 PM by MintyFresh@GS

Maria Telkes is a Hungarian-born scientist and inventor who was known as the "Sun Queen" because of her work with solar energy. Telkes was born and educated in Budapest, Hungary, where she earned a B.A. in 1920 and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1924. She later immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen.

Although Maria Telkes is remembered mainly for her research regarding solar energy, she first worked as a professor in Budapest and then as a biophysicist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. While at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Telkes examined how energy is produced by living organisms. She also studied energy in the transformation of healthy cells to cancer cells, and researched what happens to cells when they die. In addition, Maria Telkes worked with Clinic co-founder George Crile to develop a photoelectric mechanism that recorded brain waves.

After leaving the Cleveland Clinic in 1937, Maria Telkes became a U.S. citizen and joined Westinghouse Electric, where she worked as a research engineer and developed thermoelectric devices. In 1939, Dr. Telkes shifted her research to the Solar Energy Conversion Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While at M.I.T., she worked on similar devices, but ones that used heat from the sun. Later, the U.S. government took note of her expertise and asked Telkes to design a solar still which converted salt water to drinking water for life rafts at sea.

Maria Telkes' research into water purification systems was only the start of her work with solar energy. By 1948, Telkes had researched and designed a solar heating system for a house in Dover, Massachusetts designed by Eleanor Raymond, a noted architect. Unlike previous systems which stored thermal energy in water or rocks, this system converted solar heat into chemical energy through the crystallization of a solution of sodium sulfate. In this solar home, the walls were actually the heating elements.

Maria Telkes solar-energy research included solar heating systems, solar ovens, solar thermoelectric generators, and solar stills. She also developed new materials for the protection of temperature-sensitive instruments. Later, Dr. Telkes' research with materials was put to use in the Apollo and Polaris projects. She has been honored by the National Academy of Science Building Research Advisory Board for her contributions to solar building technology, and was also awarded the Charles Greeley Abbot Award by the International Solar Energy Society.

Resources:
http://www.answers.com/topic/m-ria-telkes
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/maria-telkes-woc/
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/telkes.html
http://www.ee.vt.edu/~museum/women/maria/a_maria.html

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#1

Re: Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

06/25/2007 4:57 PM

One cool Lady.

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#2
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Re: Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

06/26/2007 8:55 AM

And way ahead of her time!

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#3

Re: Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

06/26/2007 9:27 AM

Isn't it interesting how we've had these technologies for so long yet we've overlooked their significance in every day life until now? And even now industry suppresses these ideas!


It's a shame! We've had the answers and we've wasted time!

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#4

Re: Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

07/01/2009 2:59 PM

I wish I could have had the honor to meet this amazing woman. She would have turned my world upside down forever in the utmost positive way. We take the contributions that she gave us totally for granted. Maria Telkes and Albert Tesla are my favorite two people ever. Thank you.

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#5
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Re: Maria Telkes (December 12, 1900 - December 2, 1995)

03/13/2011 1:25 PM

This amazing woman was my great Aunt. She had a masters degree in Physics before women had the right to vote. Her life and work inspire me everyday and I'm proud that her blood runs in my veins!

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