The Rise of the Sun Queen: Mária Telkes’ Early Years in the United States (1925-1953)

Authors

  • Soma Rédey Independent scholar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ahea.2025.594

Keywords:

Mária Telkes, Women in Science, Dover Sun House, solar energy research, Solar Stills

Abstract

Mária Telkes achieved outstanding results in the utilization of solar energy. Only thirteen years after her arrival in the US in 1925, she was accepted to work at MIT's Solar Energy Research Group, as the only female participant on the team. During the period she spent at MIT between 1939 and 1953, the number of female students and professors was insignificant, just below 1%. Mária Telkes never felt discriminated against; in all the hardest situations she found her way to keep on the scientific track of solar research. She achieved several patents and publications during these years and became known nationwide. The paper focuses on the circumstances: both social and technical challenges she faced. Based mostly on primary documents available at MIT Libraries' Distinctive Collections, details of her application process or her development of solar stills during the Second World War give us a sophisticated image not only of the challenges Telkes faced, but of the social characteristics of the era as well.

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Published

2025-08-25

Issue

Vol. 18 (2025)

Section

Thematic Cluster: The Impact of Johnson-Reed in Hungary: Changing Trajectories and Perceptions. Guest editor: Balázs Venkovits

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Copyright (c) 2025 Soma Rédey

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