Doodle Celebrates Scientist Maria Telke’s Birth Anniversary

Maria completed her PhD in 1924…

On Monday, 12 December 2022, Google honoured Maria Telkes, a Hungarian-American biophysicist, scientist and inventor who worked on solar energy technologies.

She was born on December 12, 1900, in Budapest.

Ms. Telkes was best known for her invention of the first solar-powered heating system designed for residences, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

She also created devices that captured and stored the solar energy. She died on December 2, 1995, in the Hungarian capital. Ms Telkes was given the sobriquet 'Sun Queen' for her pioneering work.

In a career spanning several decades, Ms. Telkes earned as many as 20 patents and invested in several breakthrough technologies. The Google doodle today is celebrating her 122nd birth anniversary.

The animated doodle shows Ms. Telkes' photo and her experiment in the background of her image. It shows how solar energy is captured and is used to power various gadgets in the houses of the people.

As the sun sets, the homes are still lit using the solar energy captured by the gadgets, as seen in the doodle.

Ms. Telkes was raised in Budapest. She studied physical chemistry in her hometown and graduated with a BA in 1920 and completed her PhD in 1924.

Telkes continued her career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a member of the Solar Energy Committee.

At the time of the Second World War, she was called upon by the US government to help develop a solar distiller that converted seawater into fresh water.

This life-saving invention was used by soldiers stationed in the Pacific theater.