According to Google, she was among the first to believe that the power of the sun could change human life.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1900, Dr. Telkes studied physical chemistry at Eötvös Loránd University. She graduated in 1920 and received her PhD in 1924. The following year she moved to the United States and accepted a position as a biophysicist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She became a US citizen in 1937.
Dr. Telkes joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Fellow of the Solar Energy Committee.
Google honors Hungarian-American scientist and biophysicist Maria Telkes with a doodle
During World War II, it was called on by the US government to help develop a solar still that would convert seawater into fresh water, Google says. “This life-saving invention was used by soldiers stationed in the Pacific Theater.”
After the war, Dr. Telkes returned to MIT as a research associate professor. So she and her colleagues at MIT were tasked with creating habitable homes heated by the sun. Unfortunately, you proposed and developed a project that failed and was removed from the committee.
But in 1948, having secured private funding, she created the Dover Sun House in collaboration with architect Eleonora Raimondo. The solar heated house was a success, as a result of which the term “solar energy” became fashionable.
Among her other achievements, Dr. Telkes’s was commissioned by the Ford Foundation, where she created a solar oven design that is still used today. You have also contributed to solar energy research at such prestigious institutions as NYU, Princeton University and the University of Delaware.
According to Google, Dr. Telkes has been awarded more than 20 patents and has worked as a consultant for many energy companies.
