• PHYSICIST
• Developed ANTIREFLECTIVE GLASS, which is now used on nearly all lenses, windshields, and computer screens
• Didn't attend school until she was eight years old
• Awarded a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College at age fifteen
• Earned her master's degree from the University of Chicago in 1918
• FIRST: 
  • woman to earn a doctorate in physics at Cambridge University
  • female research scientist at General Electric, where she partnered with chemist Irving Langmuir -- together, they built on his previous research into surface chemistry, for which Langmuir was awarded a Nobel Prize
• Some supporters of Blodgett have since said that she deserved to share the Prize with him; whether that's true or not is up for debate, but it's indisputable that Blodgett discovered how to apply their research to everyday life, by inventing an antireflective coating that could be applied to glass. This coating is now called the "Langmuir-Blodgett film."
• She also researched charcoal to improve gas masks in World War II, and CREATED a de-icing method for aircraft

Photo by Smithsonian Institution from United States [No restrictions] via Wikimedia Commons

With God as my witness, I'll never use reflective lenses again!

The 1939 movie Gone With The Wind was the first to be filmed using cameras with antireflective lenses. Audiences and critics were blown away by the sharp resolution and crystal clear imagery, helping it become the highest grossing movie of all time (adjusted for inflation).

Bibliography: Harvey, Joy and Marilyn B. Ogilvie. "Blodgett, Katharine Burr." Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, Vol. 1, Routledge, 2000, 148-149.
Sherman, Jill. 25 Women Who Thought Of It First. North Mankato: Compass Point Books, 2019. Print.

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