Mathematician, Engineer and Suffragette: The Extraordinary Life of Hertha Ayrton
Mathematician, Engineer and Suffragette: The Extraordinary Life of Hertha Ayrton is a surprising talk about Hertha Ayrton. Hertha, born in Portsmouth in 1854 in a lower middle class Jewish family put herself through university (whilst there she formed the first all women fire brigade in the world) and then became a leading UK mathematician and engineer. Hertha’s good friend was Marie Curie, but despite being well connected scientifically was turned down for Fellowship of the Royal Society as being a married woman she was not a ‘legal entity’. Hertha was also an incredibly famous suffragette, so prominent that when three suffragettes were chosen to meet the Prime Minister, she was one of the three. The talk explores her life, mathematical and engineering work, and speculates on why she has been (mostly) lost to history.
There will also be a special opportunity to explore a selection of Hertha Ayrton-related exhibits, brought along by Anne Locker, Archivist at the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Attendees will be able to view and examine the exhibits before the talk.
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