A Level Physics: diverse role models for women in electrons, waves and photons content
09 January 2025
Mike Jackson, Physics Subject Advisor
Following on from my blogs on diverse role models for women in astrophysics, and in forces and motion content, I will spotlight four women relating to the electrons, waves and photon content in A Level Physics. I include suggestions of where you could link their work to both Physics A and Physics B specifications.
Hertha Ayrton was a pioneering electrical engineer and a suffragette
Hertha Ayrton was born in Hampshire, England in 1854. She was the daughter of Polish Jewish watchmaker Levi Marks who sadly died while Hertha was a child. At the age of nine Hertha went to live with her aunts, who ran a school in London. Here she was introduced to mathematics and science. Although working as a governess by age 16, she went on to study mathematics and physics at Girton College, Cambridge (the first women’s college at the University of Cambridge).
Hertha Ayrton later worked as a teacher and earned money from embroidery. However, she still had mathematical problems and solutions published. She also registered 26 patents relating to mathematical dividers, arc lamps and electrodes and propulsion of air. In 1895 she wrote a series of articles about the flickering and hissing of electrical arcs used widely in electrical lighting at the time.
Hertha became the first female member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899. The next, Dorothy Smith, was not until 1958! As a woman, she was not allowed to present a paper to the Royal Society, though her paper was read by a man in 1901. She was the first woman to receive a prize from the society in 1906, although they turned her down as a fellow as married women were not eligible at the time.
Hertha was very involved in the women’s suffrage movement. She was with Emmeline Pankhurst when she went to see the Prime Minister in 1910. It was through this cause that she met Barbara Bodichon, the co-founder of Girton College.
Hertha Ayrton’s work could be linked to the electrical circuits content in H556/H156 4.2 and H557/H157 3.1.2.
Shirley Ann Jackson researched optical and electronic properties of materials
Shirley Ann Jackson was born in Washington DC, USA, in 1946. She went to a segregated school before her academic studies led to her becoming the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and only the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics. In 2002 Discover Magazine recognised her as one of the 50 most important women in science.
Between 1976 and 1991 Dr. Jackson worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, researching the optical and electronic properties of layered materials. This included work on semiconductors and electron behaviour.
Since this time, Shirley Jackson has gone on to become a director of several major companies, Chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and President of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She has also been appointed to the Nature Conservancy Global Board.
Her research links to Module 4 in H556/H156 Physics A and Module 6 in Physics B H557/H157.
Donna Strickland is a Nobel Prize winning optical physicist
Donna Strickland is currently a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Born in 1959 she studied engineering physics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada and then her doctoral research at University of Rochester, USA. She shared the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou.
Professor Strickland’s work has focussed on laser light, including using new wavelength ranges, such as mid-infrared and ultraviolet. This research can be applied in the machining of small glass parts for mobile phones. Her work has also involved the role of lasers in treating the eye condition presbyopia.
This links more generally to electromagnetic waves in H556/H156 4.4.2 and H557/H157 4.1 as well as photons in H556/H156 4.5.1 and H557/H157 4.1. Lenses are also covered in H557/H157 in 3.1.1. Although the eye and lenses are not directly covered in H556, links could be made during the teaching of 6.1 Medical imaging. Lasers are used in both specifications through the apparatus and techniques in 1.2.2 (j) and the optional practical activity 5.1.
Anne L’Huillier won the Nobel Prize for the study of electrons
In 2023 the Nobel Prize for Physics for was awarded to Anne L’Huillier, with Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz, for their studies of electron dynamics in matter using attosecond pulses of light. The prefix atto- means 10-18 and has the symbol “a”. To date the shortest pulse of laser light generated was 43as.
Anne L’Huillier was born in Paris, France in 1958 and went on to study theoretical physics and mathematics for her degree. She studied experimental physics for her doctorate degree. As a post-doctoral student she worked in Sweden and the United States. She is currently professor of atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden.
The research of Professor L’Huillier, like Professor Donna Strickland, involves laser pulses. Attosecond physics seeks to understand ultrafast processes, such as quantum dynamics of electrons.
The European Research Executive Agency featured an interview with Anne L’Huillier in February 2024 where women in STEM and her journey as a woman in physics are discussed further.
As well as the previous specification links to light, there are potential links to waves and superposition in H556 4.4.4 and H557 4.1, as explained in this article from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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About the author
Mike joined OCR in January 2024 and is a subject advisor for A Level Physics. Mike completed an MA in Education at the University of Birmingham in 2014. Before joining OCR, he was a teacher for over 15 years, with roles included Acting Assistant Head, Head of Science, Physics Network Lead for a trust, a STEM Learning Facilitator and an SLE for Science. Mike is passionate about inclusion in education, environment and sustainability.
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