Science Quickly
Science Quickly
Scientific American
The hidden genius behind nonreflective glass
15 minutes Posted Jan 30, 2026 at 10:50 am.
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Show notes

In this episode of Science Quickly, host Kendra Pierre-Louis talks with Katie Hafner of the podcast Lost Women of Science about the remarkable but often overlooked physicist and chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett, whose pioneering work in early nanotechnology led to nonreflective glass. Hafner shares why the Lost Women of Science team devoted nearly a year to uncovering Blodgett’s full story and reflects on the broader mission to restore women to the scientific record.


Recommended Reading:

The chemical genius of Katharine Burr Blodgett

Listen to more podcasts from the Lost Women of Science Initiative


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Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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