Eunice Newton Foote: Overlooked, forgotten, recognized

Disclaimer. I drew a significant portion of this blog post from a writing assignment I completed for my Earth Science 101 class with Professor Steven Jacobsen during the spring quarter of last year. While the words are entirely my own, all credit for making me aware of this remarkable story goes to Professor Jacobsen. 

In 2010, a former petroleum geologist named Ray Sorenson made an astounding discovery. Sorenson unearthed an 1856 paper written by Eunice Newton Foote, which, he quickly realized, demonstrates that Foote was the first person to discern the crucial link between carbon dioxide and warming and the associated implications for climate change. This discovery upended the traditional historical understanding that British physicist John Tyndall first identified the greenhouse effect in 1859 (Mandel). It also raised numerous questions, perhaps most importantly: Who was Eunice Newton Foote, and why was her tremendously significant finding lost to history? 

Before I answer that question, though, I would like to take a moment to explain why I am bringing her up at all. Namely, in my Earth Science 101 class last spring—By the way, a fantastic natural science distro—we learned about Eunice Newton Foote and the incredible, by-chance uncovering by Ray Sorenson of her discovery. For an assignment, we had to briefly research Foote and learn more about her as a scientist and private individual. Thus, in one sense, this blog post, which recycles much of the writing I did for that assignment, is a continuation of it. I want to use this post to share her extraordinary story with a broader audience—I hope—than just my Earth Science 101 class. Additionally, I think the story of her discovery of the link between carbon dioxide and warming and her subsequent, marked disappearance into historical anonymity offers a relevant and vital, if perhaps straightforward-seeming, lesson. Inclusivity, specifically in science and which Eunice Newton Foote notably did not experience, as regards getting taken seriously, receiving just treatment, etc., is not only simply fair but also essential for efficient, collectively beneficial future progress.  

At any rate, to return to discussing Foote herself—what I mean to be the core substance of this post—I think I ought to give some context as to her background. She came from an upper-middle-class family and, from a young age, enjoyed more access to science and learning than nearly all women, or most men, for that matter, in the United States of the 19th century. Unlike essentially all other women at the time, she received a robust education, studying at the Troy Female Seminary in New York State, the founder of which believed in teaching girls all subjects, including science. This formative time at school was when Foote first gained scientific understanding and began demonstrating a more-than-passing interest in it, which she would exhibit in her adult life. And indeed, after leaving school and marrying Elisha Foote—a judge, inventor, and scientist—she kept up to date with noteworthy scientific developments, maintaining a regular subscription to Scientific American. Crucially, her groundbreaking 1856 experiment, which, as mentioned, identified the link between carbon dioxide and warming, was most likely inspired by a Scientific American article regarding theories as to how the sun heats the Earth. 

I am no scientific expert—Perhaps evidenced by the fact that I write for the Political Union blog—but even I can tell how ingenious the experiment devised by Foote was. The design was cleverly simple, enabling her, at home, with no outside help, to definitively establish the heating role of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. After placing thermometers in glass cylinders filled with different types of gas, Foote measured the temperature of each gas, heated by the sun, over time. In the end, her results were conclusive: More than ambient air or other gasses, carbon dioxide retained a higher temperature for longer. Furthermore, maybe even more remarkably, in her writings about the experiment, she predicted the tremendous implications of her findings regarding climate change, asserting that “An atmosphere of that gas would give to our earth a high temperature.” 

This finding, by Foote, was clearly of tremendous consequence. However, she faced considerable obstacles in sharing it with the broader scientific community—Specifically and unequivocally because of her status as a woman in a harshly patriarchal society, patriarchy that extended to the world of science. Not permitted to disseminate her findings on her own, yet recognizing their merit, she enlisted a family friend, Joseph Henry, then director of the Smithsonian, to introduce them at a scientific conference. Henry, though, failed to recognize their true significance, and his presentation did not attract substantial interest. The same lack of interest occurred even after her paper summarizing her findings was published, in all likelihood because she was a woman. Despite Foote enjoying plenty of advantages herself—a first-rate education, connections to influential scientists, etc.—her being female, above all else, ultimately prevented her discovery of the critical link between carbon dioxide and warming from receiving substantial attention. Even John Tyndall, the man, as mentioned, traditionally credited with making that discovery in 1859, probably did not know of her. Alas, she wound up fading, unjustly, I would argue, into the background of history. 

I feel it significant to share the story of Eunice Newton Foote and share this account of the discovery by Eunice Newton Foote of the link between carbon dioxide and warming not only because it is fascinating but also because it carries a straightforward but enduring lesson. Like countless other women throughout history, Foote could not achieve her full career potential—regarding disseminating her scientific findings—because she was born female. And she essentially disappeared from historical memory for the same reason. Perhaps the primary lesson in this, I think, concerns how it exhibits the devastating losses resulting from discriminatory subordination, whether of women or other historically marginalized groups, in science and, by extension, all parts of society. What might progress have looked like throughout history if women like Foote—Indeed, all women—had received just access and respect in science, business, politics, etc.? Ultimately, her story underlines that historical lesson and, more crucially, in my opinion, it thus highlights the criticality of increasing fairness in that regard today, as though much has improved, much remains to be done. 

That is a notion most expressly captured, I believe, in a part of Foote’s story that I have yet to share, which I think provides an excellent finish to this blog post. Namely, while she only published a few more scientific papers after identifying the link between carbon dioxide and warming, she helped leave an indelible mark as part of a movement, joining the fight for women’s suffrage later in life. In a way, the far improved, though far from perfect gender equality we have today, in which women typically get taken seriously as scientists, can be traced back to Foote. The sort of movements ongoingly needed for a fairer, more just society, with just access and respect for all, also undoubtedly mirror that noble fight in which she took part. While Foote did not receive the recognition she deserved for her discovery, she marched on, taking action in a way that sought to correct the injustice she had faced—Onward!

"greenhouse gas" by “Sky Noir” is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0