Description

Eunice Newton Foote was an American scientist, inventor, and women's rights campaigner. She was the first scientist to identify the insulating effect of certain gases, and that therefore rising carbon dioxide levels could increase atmospheric temperature and affect climate, a phenomenon now referred to as the greenhouse effect. Born in Connecticut, Foote was raised in New York at the center of social and political movements of her day, such as the abolition of slavery, anti-alcohol activism, and women's rights. She attended the Troy Female Seminary and the Rensselaer School from age 17 to age 19, gaining a broad education in scientific theory and practice.