Agnes Luise Wilhelmine Pockels was a self-taught chemist who researched surface tension and invented the slide trough. Pockels was born on February 14, 1862 in Venice where her father was stationed with the Austrian Army. She died on November 21, 1935 in Braunschweig (Brunswick) where she lived most of her life.
Education
Pockels showed an early interest in the natural sciences, especially physics. However, by the time she finished school she couldn’t go on to study because most universities didn’t allow women as students, and she also had to take care of her ill parents.
This didn’t stop her from pursuing her interest in science and while doing dishes she started observing soaps and soapy water and the effect on a liquid’s surface. In 1882, she invented the “Schieberinne” (slide trough) with which she could measure surface tension. This invention of hers is a forerunner of the Langmuir-Blodgett Trough developed by Irving Langmuir and Katherine Blodgett. (Langmuir received the Nobel Prize in 1932.)
Pockels continued to experiment and research surface tension.
Her younger brother Friedrich studied physics at the university and helped her further her studies by giving her his textbooks and scientific journals. It was also he who encouraged Agnes to write to English physicist John William Strutt, better known as Lord Rayleigh, to tell him about her research.
Recognition
While Agnes Pockels had written papers about her experiments and work, none of the scientists and scientific journals showed any interest. Lord Rayleigh though sent Agnes’ letter and a brief introduction to “Nature” magazine who published it in 1892.
This publication made her known in Germany and she was able to write for German science journals. It’s worth mentioning that she was not associated with any university and had never received a formal education.
However, Agnes Pockels was recognized for her accomplishments when she received the Laura R. Leonhard Prize from the Colloid Society of Germany. A year later, the Technical University of Braunschweig awarded her an honorary doctorate (Dr. Ing. h.c.) for her work in surface science.
Legacy
Pockels died on November 11, 1935 but her legacy and name live on. The German Bunsen Society awards, since 2020, the Agnes Pockels PhD Prize (Agnes Pockels Promotionspreis) annually to young physical chemists.
Since 1993, the Agnes Pockels Medal (Agnes-Pockels-Medaille) has been given to people (esp. women) who have furthered the Technical University Braunschweig. At the same university, a laboratory named after her was established in 2002 to educate young children in chemistry.
Resource and Sources
- Wiki – Agnes Pockels
- History of Scientific Women
- TU Braunschweig – Agnes Pockels Labor
- Nature magazine
- Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft
- Seminararbeit über Pockels’ Forschung
