Who was Katsuko Saruhashi, today's Google Doodle

Google's latest homepage Doodle celebrates the 98th birth anniversary of renowned Japanese geochemist Dr Katsuko Saruhashi, who was the first to accurately measure the concentration of carbonic acid in water based on temperature, pH Level, and chlorinity.

Born in Tokyo in 1920, Dr Saruhashi pursued a hugely successful career in geochemistry at a time when women rarely made headlines in the field.

Saruhashi's interest in water leads her to be the first woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1957.

Her remarkable works include measuring the concentration of carbonic acid in water. This was measured based on its temperature, pH level and chlorinity. This method was named after her and is called the Saruhashi Table.This has proved invaluable to oceanographers everywhere.

She also developed a technique to trace the travel of radioactive fallout across the oceans that led to restricting oceanic nuclear experimentation in 1963.

During a career spanning 35 years, Saruhashi became the first woman elected to the Science Council of Japan in 1980, and the first woman honoured with the Miyake Prize for geochemistry in 1985.

In 1981, she introduced the Saruhashi Prize which honoured women for their distinguished research in science.

"I would like to see the day when women can contribute to science & technology on an equal footing with men," she had said.

She died in 2007 at the age of 87.

OneIndia News