Science, inventions & engineering
Ellen Swallow Richards
1842–1911
Massachusetts connection
MIT and the Boston area
Richards was MIT’s first woman graduate and became a chemist and teacher. She studied water quality and ways science could improve daily life. Her work helped connect laboratory research to public well-being. A question about the water people drink can become an important scientific investigation.
You can use your device’s reading tools or read with a partner.
Your turn, historian
Find a detail. Build an idea.
- What did this person or group do? Point to a detail in the reading.
- What problem did this person investigate? Who else helped make progress?
- What would you like to find out next? Which kind of source could help?
“Ellen Swallow Richards mattered because ___. A detail that supports my idea is ___.”
Follow the evidence.
This short reading is an original classroom summary. Open the source with your teacher to check details and learn more.
Read the source: news.mit.edu ↗Ask: Who made this source? What can it tell us? What might it leave out?