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Edith Clarke

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For other people named Edith Clarke, seeEdith Clarke (disambiguation).
Not to be confused withEnith Clarke.

Edith Clarke
Born(1883-02-10)February 10, 1883
Ellicott City, Maryland
DiedOctober 29, 1959(1959-10-29)(aged 76)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materVassar College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forClarke transformation
Clarke calculator
AwardsNational Inventors Hall of Fame
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical engineering
InstitutionsGeneral Electric
University of Texas at Austin

Edith Clarke(February 10, 1883 – October 29, 1959) was an American electrical engineer. She was the first woman to be professionally employed as anelectrical engineerin the United States,[1]and the first female professor of electrical engineering in the country.[2]She was the first woman to deliver a paper at theAmerican Institute of Electrical Engineers;the first female engineer whose professional standing was recognized byTau Beta Pi,the oldest engineeringhonor societyand the second oldest collegiate honor society in theUnited States;and the first woman named as a Fellow of theAmerican Institute of Electrical Engineers.She specialized in electrical power system analysis[3]and wroteCircuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems.[4]

Early life and education[edit]

One of nine children, Edith Clarke was born to lawyer John Ridgely Clarke and Susan Dorsey Owings on February 10, 1883, inEllicott City, Maryland.[5]After being orphaned at age 12, she was raised by an older sister. She used her inheritance to study mathematics andastronomyatVassar College,where she graduated in 1908.[6]

After college, Clarke taught mathematics and physics at a private school in San Francisco and atMarshall College.She then spent some time studying civil engineering at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison,but left to become a "computer"atAT&Tin 1912. She computed forGeorge Campbell,who applied mathematical methods to the problems of long-distance electrical transmissions.[7]While at AT&T, she studied electrical engineering atColumbia Universityby night.

In 1918, Clarke enrolled at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology,and the following year she became the first woman to earn an M.S. in electrical engineering from MIT.[1]Her thesis at MIT was supervised byArthur E. Kennellyand was titled "Behavior of a lumpy artificial transmission line as the frequency is indefinitely increased."[8]

Professional career[edit]

Unable to find work as an engineer, Clarke went to work forGeneral Electricas a supervisor of computers in theTurbineEngineering Department. During this time, she invented the Clarke calculator,[1]an earlygraphing calculator,a simple graphical device that solved equations involvingelectric current,voltageandimpedanceinpower transmissionlines. The device could solve line equations involvinghyperbolic functionsten times faster than previous methods. She filed a patent for the calculator in 1921 and it was granted in 1925.[1][9]

In 1921, Clarke took a leave of absence from GE to teach physics at theConstantinople Women's Collegein Turkey because she was not allowed to do electrical engineering work, was not earning the same salary and had a lower professional status as men doing the same work.[10]The next year, when she returned from Turkey, she was offered a job by GE as a salaried electrical engineer in the Central Station Engineering Department – the first professional female electrical engineer in the United States. She retired from General Electric in 1945.[11][12]

Her background in mathematics helped her achieve fame in her field. On February 8, 1926, as the first woman to deliver a paper at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers' (AIEE) annual meeting, she showed the use of hyperbolic functions for calculating the maximum power that a line could carry without instability.[13]The paper was of importance because transmission lines were getting longer, leading to greater loads and more chances for system instability, and Clarke's paper provided a model that applied to large systems.[14]Two of her later papers won awards from the AIEE: the Best Regional Paper Prize in 1932 and the Best National Paper Prize in 1941.[2]

She also worked on the design and building of hydroelectric dams in the West including Hoover Dam, contributing her electrical expertise to develop and install the turbines that generate hydropower there to this day.[15]

In 1943, Clarke wrote an influential textbook in the field ofpower engineering,Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems,based on her notes for lectures to GE engineers. This two-volume textbook teaches about her adaption of the symmetrical components system, in which she became interested while working for the second time at GE. This system is a mathematical means for engineers to study and solve problems of power system losses and the performance of electrical equipment. Clarke adopted this system to the three-phase components that are the basis of the electrical grid in the United States. This textbook was used as the basis of education for electrical engineers for many years.[16]

In 1947, she joined the faculty of the Electrical Engineering Department at theUniversity of Texas at Austin,making her the first female professor of electrical engineering in the country.[2]She taught for 10 years and retired in 1957.[2]

In an interview withThe Daily Texanon March 14, 1948, Clarke observed: "There is no demand for women engineers, as such, as there are for women doctors; but there's always a demand for anyone who can do a good piece of work."[12]

Honors[edit]

Clarke was the first female engineer to achieve professional standing in Tau Beta Pi.[2]In 1948, Clarke was the first female Fellow of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.[2]She was the first woman to be accepted as a full voting member in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.[17]In 1954, she received theSociety of Women Engineers(SWE) Achievement Award,[18]which was presented to her byEvelyn Jetter,one of SWE's founders[19]and inventor of the automotive ignition transistor, "in recognition of her many original contributions to stability theory and circuit analysis."[8][20]Clarke was selected for inclusion inWomen of Achievement in Maryland Historyin 1998 and was also included inAmerican National BiographyandNotable American Women of the Modern Period.[17]

In 2015, Clarke was posthumously inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame.[21]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Layne, Margaret E. (2009).Women in engineering. Pioneers and trailblazers.Reston, Va.: ASCE Press.ISBN978-0784472354.
  • Tietjen, Jill S.; Bailey, Margaret (2022). "Energetic Trailblazers: Kate Gleason, Edith Clarke, and Mária Telkes".Women in Mechanical Engineering.Women in Engineering and Science: 3–23.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-91546-9_1.ISBN978-3-030-91545-2.

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdCarey, Charles Jr. (1999)."Edith Clarke".American National Biography.New York: Oxford University Press.RetrievedOctober 16,2012.(subscription required)
  2. ^abcdefDurbin, John."In Memoriam: Edith Clarke".Index of Memorial Resolutions and Biographical Sketches.University of Texas.Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2016.RetrievedOctober 25,2019.
  3. ^Brittain, J.E. (January 1996). "Edith Clark and power system stability [Scanning the Past]".Proceedings of the IEEE.84(1): 90.doi:10.1109/JPROC.1996.476030.ISSN0018-9219.S2CID26830617.
  4. ^Clarke, Edith (1943).Circuit analysis of A-C power systems.J. Wiley & sons, inc.
  5. ^Riddle, Larry."Edith Clarke".Biographies of Women Mathematicians.Agnes Scott College.Archivedfrom the original on May 3, 2020.RetrievedOctober 16,2012.
  6. ^"League of Coders".Archived fromthe originalon May 8, 2022.RetrievedNovember 12,2020.
  7. ^"Edith Clarke".IEEE Global History Network.Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.Archived fromthe originalon August 1, 2013.
  8. ^ab"Edith Clarke".agnesscott.edu.Archivedfrom the original on October 4, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 29,2020.
  9. ^US patent 1552113,Edith Clarke, "Calculator", issued September 1, 1925, assigned to Clarke, Edith
  10. ^Levins, Sandy (July 1, 2020)."The Electrifying Story of Engineer Edith Clarke".WednesdaysWomen.Archivedfrom the original on March 14, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 21,2020.
  11. ^"Edith Clarke".Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.Maryland State Archives.Archivedfrom the original on February 28, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 7,2020.
  12. ^ab"Pioneering Women in Computing Technology".The Ada Project.Carnegie Mellon University.Archived fromthe originalon May 20, 2020.RetrievedApril 11,2014.
  13. ^"WOMAN ADDRESSES ELECTRICAL INSTITUTE; Miss Edith Clarke the Only One of Her Sex to Read a Paper at Engineers' Meeting".The New York Times.February 9, 1926.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2018.RetrievedJune 8,2013.
  14. ^"Edith Clarke – Engineering Hall of Fame".edisontechcenter.org.Archivedfrom the original on February 24, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 29,2020.
  15. ^"Calculator Patent"(PDF).February 4, 2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on February 4, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 21,2020.
  16. ^"Pioneering Engineers"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on October 1, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 21,2020.
  17. ^ab"Edith Clarke, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame".msa.maryland.gov.Archivedfrom the original on February 28, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 29,2020.
  18. ^Hobbs, Amy."Edith Clarke".Biographical Series.Archives of Maryland.Archivedfrom the original on May 30, 2010.RetrievedOctober 16,2012.
  19. ^"Edith Clarke, S.W.E., 1954 Award Winner".The Woman Engineer.VII(13): 5 [page 294 in compilation]. 1954. Archived fromthe originalon April 29, 2021.RetrievedJuly 24,2019.
  20. ^"Evelyn Jetter, Engineer And Inventor, 52, Dies".The New York Times.December 22, 1979.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 24, 2019.RetrievedJuly 24,2019.
  21. ^"Edith Clarke"(PDF).National Inventors Hall of Fame. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on February 4, 2015.RetrievedFebruary 4,2015.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edith_Clarke&oldid=1233792050"