Florence Bascom
JUL 14, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031264
Today is the birthday of Florence Bascom, who was born on this date in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1845. Bascom was the second woman in the US to earn a PhD in geology and the first woman to earn a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. She was a professor first at Rockford College, then the Ohio State University, and finally at Bryn Mawr College, where she founded the school’s geology department. In 1896 she was the first woman appointed to the US Geological Survey. Her work was well-known for her innovations in the use of petrography—the analysis of rocks by closely studying their mineral and textural characteristics.
Date in History: 14 July 1845
© 2016. American Institute of Physics