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{{short description|American physicist (1860–1944)}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Margaret Eliza Maltby
| image = Margaret Maltby, ca 1908.jpg
| alt = A photograph of Margaret Eliza Maltby circa 1908. She has dark hair parted down the middle and pulled back in a bun. a white lacy blouse is buttoned all the way up to her throat and secured with a brooch. a dark semi-transparent jacket overlays the blouse.
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1860|12|10}}
| birth_place = [[Bristolville, Ohio]]
Line 27 ⟶ 28:
| website =
| footnotes =
| children = 1<ref name="Gill" />
}}
'''Margaret Eliza Maltby''' (December 10, 1860 – May 3, 1944) was an American [[physicist]] notable for her measurement of high [[Electrolyte|electrolytic]] [[Electrical resistance and conductance|resistances]] and the [[Conductivity (electrolytic)|conductivity]] of very dilute [[Solution (chemistry)|solutions]].<ref name = "cwpucla">{{Cite web| title = Margaret Maltby 1860-1944| website = "Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics." CWP at UCLA| access-date = 2016-05-28| url = http://cwp.library.ucla.edu/Phase2/Maltby,[email protected]}}</ref> Maltby was the first woman to earn a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Spangenburg |first1=Ray |last2=Moser |first2=Diane |title=Modern Science, 1896-1945 |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-6881-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HG2lB95w1GAC&q=Maltby+first+woman+to+earn+a+B.S.+degree+at+MIT+in+1891&pg=PA12 |language=en}}</ref> and the first woman to earn a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in physics from any German university.<ref name="smithsonian">{{Cite web |title=Margaret Eliza Maltby (1860-1944) |url=http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siarchives&uri=full=3100001~!306326~!0#focus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323053603/http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siarchives&uri=full=3100001~!306326~!0#focus |archive-date=2017-03-23 |access-date=2017-03-22 |website=Acc. 90-105 - Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s, Smithsonian Institution Archives}}</ref>
She taught for over 30 years at [[Barnard College]] where she introduced one of the first courses on the [[Musical acoustics|physics of music]]. Maltby was active in the [[American Association of University Women]] where she was instrumental in helping female academics receive fellowships to study and conduct research, at a time when it was uncommon for women to be eligible for such fellowships.<ref name="cwpucla" />
Maltby had a child out of [[Marriage|wedlock]]. Unusually for her time, she was able to continue her career in academia by keeping the birth a secret and later claiming the child publicly through adoption.<ref name = "Gill">{{cite journal|last1=Gill|first1=Raymond|title=Genetics & Genealogy - Miss Maltby and Her Ward: Using DNA to Investigate a Family Mystery|journal=American Ancestors|volume= 17|issue= 2 |date=Spring–Summer 2016|pages= 49–52}}</ref>
==Early life==
Margaret Maltby was born Minnie Eliza Maltby on her family's farm in [[Bristolville, Ohio]], on December 10, 1860, to Edmund Maltby and Lydia Jane Brockway. She had two older sisters: Betsy (Maltby) Mayhew and Martha Jane Maltby who were 15 and 13, respectively, at the time of her birth.<ref name="ANB">{{cite journal |last1=Charbonneau |first1=Joanne A. |title=Maltby, Margaret Eliza (1860-1944), physicist, college professor, and administrator |journal=American National Biography |date=February 2000 |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302001 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1302001 |access-date=21 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Minnie Maltby was named by her sisters, but she disliked
== Education ==
Maltby attended the [[College-preparatory school|preparatory school]] at [[Oberlin College]] before [[Matriculation|matriculating]] there in 1878. She graduated from Oberlin in 1882.<ref name="Kidwell" /> During college she explored her interest in music. Music became a lifelong interest of hers both personally and in her professional work. In adulthood she listened frequently to [[classical music]] on the radio at her home and developed one of the first academic courses about the [[physics of music]] during her tenure at [[Barnard College]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Barr |first=E. Scott |date=1960-05-01 |title=Anniversaries in 1960 of Interest to Physicists |url=https://pubs.aip.org/ajp/article/28/5/462/1037066/Anniversaries-in-1960-of-Interest-to-Physicists |journal=American Journal of Physics |language=en |volume=28 |issue=5 |pages=462–475 |doi=10.1119/1.1935838 |bibcode=1960AmJPh..28..462B |issn=0002-9505}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite news |date=January 17, 1931 |title=MISS MALTBY TO RETIRE.: Barnard Physics Professor Likely to Continue Residence Here. |work=New York Times}}</ref> Following college Maltby studied
In 1887, Maltby enrolled at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)]] and went on to earn a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S]]. degree in 1891. She had to enroll as a "special" student because the institution did not accept female students. She met [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] in 1887 and joined her "[[Ellen Swallow Richards#Woman's Laboratory assistant instructor|Women's Laboratory]]" at MIT.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ellen Henrietta (Swallow) Richards with female students in classroom, 1888 |url=https://digital-exhibits.libraries.mit.edu/s/under-the-lens/item/3648 |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Under the Lens: Women Biologists and Chemists at MIT (1865-2024) |language=en-US}}</ref> Maltby formed a life-long friendship with Richards, and later spoke at her memorial of
Maltby was the first woman to earn a B.S. degree from MIT, and for this achievement Oberlin College awarded her an honorary [[Master of Arts|A.M.]] in 1891.<ref name=":0" /> While at MIT, Maltby conducted research on [[acoustics]] with [[Charles R. Cross (physicist)|Charles R. Cross]] on the minimum number of vibrations necessary to determine a difference in [[frequency]] between two sounds. Their research was in response to work by [[Félix Savart]] and [[Friedrich Kohlrausch (physicist)|Friedrich Kohlrausch]] who had argued that at least two cycles of a [[Sound|sound wave]] were required. Maltby and Cross's work, published in 1892, showed that less than a cycle was necessary to distinguish a C3 [[tuning fork]] from a C4 tuning fork, which are an [[octave]] different in pitch.<ref name="Kidwell" />
In 1893 Maltby enrolled at the [[University of Göttingen]], one of the first three women to do so. The other two women, who also entered in that same year, were [[Grace Chisholm Young]] and [[Mary Frances Winston Newson]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Claire G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/243548798 |title=Femininity, mathematics, and science, 1880-1914 |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-55521-1 |location=New York |pages=41, 51 |oclc=243548798}}</ref> Maltby was able to attend the university through a European Fellowship from the [[Association of Collegiate Alumnae]]. This [[fellowship]], created largely through the efforts of [[Christine Ladd-Franklin]], was intended to pressure foreign universities to open their doors to female students on a regular basis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rossiter |first=Margaret W. |date=1982 |title=Doctorates for American Women, 1868-1907 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/367747 |journal=History of Education Quarterly |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=159–183 |doi=10.2307/367747 |jstor=367747 |issn=0018-2680}}</ref> In 1895 Maltby received her Ph.D., becoming the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Göttingen and the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in physics from any German university.<ref name="smithsonian" />{{Failed verification|date=July 2024}} For her doctoral work Maltby studied under [[Walther Nernst]] in his [[physical chemistry]] laboratory. Nernst was interested in the theory of [[ionic dissociation]] and early research into this topic had focused on solutions that were relatively good [[Electrical conductor|conductors]]. In her dissertation Maltby studied [[Solvent|solvents]] that were poor conductors, including alcohol, ether, and water.<ref name="Kidwell" /> She applied a [[Wheatstone bridge]] in a novel way to measure the conductivity in electrolytically resistant substances.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oakes |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtyPEAAAQBAJ&q=Margaret+Eliza+Maltby |title=Encyclopedia of World Scientists, Updated Edition |date=2020-07-01 |publisher=Infobase Holdings, Inc |isbn=978-1-4381-9545-2 |pages=659 |language=en}}</ref>▼
▲In 1893 Maltby enrolled at the [[University of Göttingen]], one of the first three women to do so. The other two women, who also entered in that same year, were [[Grace Chisholm Young]] and [[Mary Frances Winston Newson]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Claire G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/243548798 |title=Femininity, mathematics, and science, 1880-1914 |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-55521-1 |location=New York |pages=41, 51 |oclc=243548798}}</ref> Maltby was able to attend the university through a European Fellowship from the [[Association of Collegiate Alumnae]]. This fellowship, created largely through the efforts of [[Christine Ladd-Franklin]], was intended to pressure foreign universities to open their doors to female students on a regular basis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rossiter |first=Margaret W. |date=1982 |title=Doctorates for American Women, 1868-1907 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/367747 |journal=History of Education Quarterly |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=159–183 |doi=10.2307/367747 |issn=0018-2680}}</ref> In 1895 Maltby received her Ph.D., becoming the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Göttingen and the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in physics from any German university.<ref name="smithsonian" /> For her doctoral work Maltby studied under [[Walther Nernst]] in his physical chemistry laboratory. Nernst was interested in the theory of [[ionic dissociation]] and early research into this topic had focused on solutions that were relatively good conductors. In her dissertation Maltby studied solvents that were poor conductors, including alcohol, ether, and water.<ref name="Kidwell" />
==Career==
After she received her doctorate she worked at the newly founded Institut für Physikalische Chemie at Göttingen under Nernst.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bartel |first1=Hans-Georg and Rudolf P. Huebener |title=Walther Nernst: Pioneer of Physics and of Chemistry |date=2007 |publisher=World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. |isbn=978-981-256-560-0 |location=Singapore}} pp.
When she returned from Germany in 1896, Maltby took up a position as associate professor at [[Wellesley College]] where she substituted for [[Sarah Frances Whiting]] who was on sabbatical. Maltby had previously taught at Wellesley as an instructor in physics from 1889 to 1893 to earn some money while attending MIT. At the end of the
Invited back to Germany in 1898 to work at the [[Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt]] in Charlottenburg, Maltby worked as a research assistant to
In 1900 Maltby took up a position as an instructor in chemistry at [[Barnard College]], hoping that an opportunity would soon open up for her to teach physics. In 1903 Marie Reimer was hired as the head chemistry instructor and Maltby transferred to physics.
Physicist and [[History of science|historian of science]] [[Katherine Sopka]] wrote that her students greatly admired her. One wrote to Sopka that: "Professor Maltby was my mentor—a gracious lady—a friend and a counselor. Her most memorable advice to me was not to forego marriage for a career—which I followed and lived happily ever after."<ref name="Sopka">{{Cite book |last1=Sopka |first1=Katherine |title=Making Contributions: An Historical Overview of Women's Role in Physics |publisher=American Association of Physics Teachers |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-917853-09-8 |editor-last=Lotze |editor-first=Barbara |location=College Park, Maryland |chapter=Women Physicists in Past Generations}} pp. 11-13</ref> Although Maltby supported the ability of other female academics to marry, she personally did not believe that marriage would be beneficial between two scientists. She wrote to [[Svante Arrhenius]] on the occasion of his divorce that she believed that it was inevitable that one personality would subsume the other in a marriage of two scientists, and so she herself never wanted to get married.<ref name="personal" />
In the summer of 1906, while Maltby was chair of the physics department, [[Harriet Brooks]] announced that she planned to marry. Although Brooks assumed she would be able to keep her position, Laura Gill, the Dean of Barnard College at the time, was strongly opposed. In the early 1900s it was very common for female academics to leave their employment at women's colleges upon marriage. Maltby spoke up on behalf of Brooks, arguing to Gill that Brooks was a talented teacher and researcher and would be able to keep up with her duties. However, Maltby was not able to convince Gill, and Brooks left the college later that year.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Rossiter |first=Margaret W. |title=Women scientists in America: struggles and strategies to 1940 |date=1992 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-2509-5 |edition=Paperbacks ed., 3. printing |location=Baltimore |pages=16, 25, 43, 366}}</ref> Gill argued to Maltby that marriage would be too great a drain on a female professor's time, despite knowing that Maltby had adopted a child. Gill likely viewed marriage as a form of disloyalty by a female instructor to the college, in contrast to motherhood which was an appoved role.<ref name="personal" /> [[File:Margaret Eliza Maltby (1860-1944) (12483529573).jpg|thumb|
The first edition of ''[[American Men of Science]]'' (AMS), published in 1906, recognized Maltby's name with a star.
Maltby was a fellow of the [[American Physical Society]].<ref name=":4" />
In 1960 she was profiled in the ''[[American Journal of Physics]]'' to mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her birth.<ref name=":1" />
▲The first edition of ''[[American Men of Science]]'', published in 1906, recognized Maltby's name with a star denoting her as one of the country's top scientists.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1633828 |title=American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory |date=1906 |publisher=Science Press |editor-last1=Cattell |editor-first1=James McKeen |edition=1st |location=New York |page=208}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
== Personal life ==
In 1901 Maltby adopted a boy, Philip Randolph Meyer, whom she claimed was the orphaned son of a close friend. This claim was accepted throughout both Maltby's and Meyer's lives.<ref name="Sopka" />
[[File:Margaret Maltby and Philip Meyer-2.jpg|thumb|alt=Margaret Maltby sits drinking tea at a table with Philip Randolph Meyer. The interior is decorated with fine objects. in the background is a wardrobe. Maltby has her hair back in a bun and leans on to one side, resting her head on her hand while gazing at the camera. Meyer is young and dressed in a World War I army uniform. He gazes downward at an open book as if reading.|
In 2014, [[Autosomal DNA]] tests of Meyer's two daughters through [[Ancestry.com]] showed strong links to known descendants of Maltby's mother and of her father. The results of the tests indicated that Philip Randolph Meyer was Maltby's natural son.<ref name="Gill" /> He was born in June 1897, six months after Maltby's sudden resignation from Wellesley College. Maltby likely resigned to hide her pregnancy and preserve her career.<ref name="personal" /> When Maltby returned to a research position in Germany in 1898, she left her son in the care of a friend
In her leisure time, Maltby enjoyed listening to music, especially the [[Metropolitan Opera]], and travel. She also enjoyed spending time with Meyer's children (her grandchildren) who were born in the 1930s.<ref name=":1" />
In her later years Maltby suffered from arthritis.<ref name=":1" /> Maltby died on May 3, 1944, at the [[Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="NYT obit">{{cite news |date=May 5, 1944 |title=DR. M.E. MALTBY, LONG AT BARNARD: Retired Associate Professor of Physics Dies--Served on Faculty 31 Years |work=New York Times}}</ref> After her death, Meyer burned Maltby's personal papers as she had requested that he do.<ref name="Gill" /> It has been speculated that this was to protect her public or private reputation.<ref name="personal" />
==Selected publications==
=== Scientific publications ===
*{{Cite journal |
*{{Cite journal |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |date=1895 |title=Methode zur Bestimmung grosser elektrolytischer Widerstände |trans-title=Method for determining large electrolytic resistances |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfcyiJO6vfgC&pg=PA133 |journal=[[Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie]] |language=de |volume=18 |pages=
*{{Cite journal |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |date=1897 |title=Methode zur Bestimmung der Periode electrischer Schwingungen |trans-title=Method for determining the period of electrical oscillations |url=https://zenodo.org/records/1589399 |journal=[[Annalen der Physik und Chemie]] |language=de |volume=61 |issue=7 |pages=
* {{Cite journal |
* {{Cite journal |
=== Publications on education ===
*{{Cite journal |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |date=1896 |title=A Few Points of Comparison between German and American Universities |journal=Proceedings of the
*{{Cite journal |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |date=1915 |title=The Relation of Physics and Chemistry to the College Science Courses |journal=Columbia Quarterly |volume=18 |issue=56 |ref=none}}
*{{Cite book |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/careersforwomen00filegoog/page/430/mode/2up |title=Careers for Women |date=1920 |publisher=Riverside Press
*{{Cite book |last=Maltby |first=Margaret |title=History of Fellowships Awarded by the American Association of University Women, 1888-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=Columbia University Press
==References==
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