Elizabeth Alexander (scientist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Alexander
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Frances Elizabeth Somerville Caldwell
13 December 1908 Merton, Surrey, UK
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| Died | 15 October 1958 (aged 49) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Newnham College, Cambridge |
| Spouse(s) | Norman Alexander |
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Frances Elizabeth Somerville Alexander (born Caldwell; 13 December 1908 – 15 October 1958) was a smart British scientist. She was a geologist, a teacher, and a physicist. During World War II, she worked with radar and radio. This work helped start the field of radio astronomy. After the war, her studies on the geology of Singapore became very important for future research.
Elizabeth Alexander earned her PhD from Newnham College, Cambridge. From 1938 to 1941, she worked at the Singapore Naval Base, helping to find radio signals. In 1941, she moved to New Zealand. There, she became the Head of Operations Research in the Radio Development Lab in Wellington. In 1945, she made a big discovery. She figured out that strange radar signals picked up on Norfolk Island were actually coming from the sun! This was a huge step in radio astronomy. It made her one of the first women scientists to work in this exciting field.
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Elizabeth Alexander's Early Life and Studies
Elizabeth Alexander was born Frances Elizabeth Somerville Caldwell on December 13, 1908, in Merton, Surrey, UK. She spent some of her early years in India. Her father, Dr. K. S. Caldwell, was a professor there. In 1918, Elizabeth returned to the United Kingdom and started secondary school.
She later went to Newnham College, Cambridge. She studied natural science, focusing first on physics. She graduated with top honors in 1931. Then, she earned her PhD in geology. Her research was about a type of rock called Aymestry Limestone.
In July 1935, Elizabeth married Norman Alexander, who was also a physicist from New Zealand. When her husband became a professor in Singapore, Elizabeth went with him. There, she started studying how weathering affects rocks in tropical places. She was very interested in how rocks erode and how new rock seemed to form quickly. She even buried rock samples to study them later. While in Singapore, the Alexanders had three children: William, Mary, and Bernice.
Wartime Work and Discoveries
Between 1940 and 1941, Elizabeth Alexander worked for the Naval Intelligence Service. She was a Captain and helped with radio direction-finding at the Singapore Naval Base. This work involved finding the direction of radio signals.
On January 4, 1942, Elizabeth and her children had to leave Singapore for safety. They went to New Zealand by flying boat. After Singapore was captured in February, she was stuck in New Zealand. For six months, she didn't know if her husband was safe. She was even told he had died, which was not true.
While in New Zealand, Elizabeth became a Senior Physicist. She led the Operational Research Section of the Radio Development Laboratory in Wellington from 1942 to 1945. She was in charge of most radio and radar research there. This included new ways to use radio for weather studies and developing microwave radar.
In 1945, Elizabeth Alexander made her famous discovery. She identified the "Norfolk Island Effect" as radiation coming from the sun. This important finding started the field of radio astronomy in Australia. Even though she made big steps in this area, Elizabeth saw radio astronomy as just a job. Once the war ended in 1945, she went back to her true passion: geology.
While Elizabeth worked in New Zealand, her husband, Norman, stayed in Singapore. He was a Scientific Adviser to the Armed Forces. He helped keep X-ray machines working at the hospital until Singapore fell. Then, he was held in Changi Prison and Sime Road camps.
After the War
In September 1945, Elizabeth was reunited with her husband in New Zealand. He had to take six months of sick leave. In March 1946, Norman returned to Singapore to restart the Physics and Chemistry Departments at Raffles College. These departments had been damaged, and some professors had died. Elizabeth finished her work in Wellington and took her children to England. She left them with her sister and then joined Norman in Singapore. They bought new equipment for the college.
Back in Singapore, Elizabeth helped turn Raffles College into the University of Malaya. She wanted to continue her research on tropical weathering. However, her lab at home was destroyed. Also, a hill she used for her experiments had been removed during road building. This made it impossible to find her buried rock samples. Elizabeth later returned to England, while Norman worked in both Singapore and New Zealand. In 1947, when their children were old enough for boarding school, the couple returned to Singapore and both worked at Raffles College.
In 1949, Elizabeth Alexander became the geologist for the Government of Singapore. She surveyed the island and published a report in 1950. This report included the first geological map of Singapore. Her work is still seen as one of the most complete studies of Singapore's geology. Her main job was to find out how much granite and other useful stone the island had. She found that Singapore had enough granite for 500 years! She also named a part of the Jurong Formation the "Murai Schist." She also created the first collection of fossils found in the Ayer Chawan area.
In 1952, the Alexanders moved to Ibadan, Nigeria. Both got jobs at University College Ibadan. Elizabeth became a Lecturer in Soil Sciences. She worked in Agronomy (the science of soil and crops) and soil science. Norman became the head of the Physics department. Later, someone from Raffles Museum found one of Elizabeth's old buried rock samples. They sent it to her in London so she could study it during her vacation.
In 1958, the university opened a geology department. Elizabeth Alexander became the Senior Lecturer and Head of the department. Just three weeks into her new role, she had a stroke. She died a week later, on October 15, 1958, at the age of 49.
In 2017, Elizabeth Alexander was honored by the Royal Society Te Apārangi. She was chosen as one of the "150 women in 150 words" project. This project celebrates women who have contributed to knowledge in New Zealand.
See also
In Spanish: Elizabeth Alexander para niños
