Katsuko Saruhashi
- A Girl Like You Project
- Mar 27, 2023
- 2 min read
On March 22, 2018 Google's doodle honors pioneering geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi on what would have been her 98th birthday. Photo: Time Magazine/Google Doodle. https://time.com/5210207/katsuko-saruhashi-google-doodle/
Katsuko Saruhashi was born on March 22, 1920, in Tokyo, Japan. Saruhashi's interest in science was first sparked when she was a young girl, watching raindrops slide down the window in her primary school classroom, wondering what caused rain. When she was 21, Saruhashi convinced her parents to let her quit her job at an insurance firm to attend the Imperial Women’s College of Science (modern day Toho University).
Katsuko Saruhashi is most well known for concluding that carbon dioxide (CO2), which is produced by humans and factories, was killing marine life. Specifically, she uncovered that that the Pacific Ocean releases more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, an important detail for research on climate change. She brought this discovery to the attention of scientists around the world and developed the first method for measuring CO2, Saruhashi’s Table, which is still in use today.
Photo: Toho University/Asia Research News.
In the 1960s, Katsuko Saruhashi also made significant contributions to research in nuclear waste contamination. The United States had been testing nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean, 2300 miles off the coast of Japan. With her team, Saruhashi discovered that in just 18 months, radiation-contaminated waters had reached Japan. Their results supported a stunning fact: If testing continued, the entire Pacific Ocean would be contaminated by 1969. Thus, her research helped tighten ocean laws governing nuclear experimentation.
Sankei Archive/Getty Images/Time Magazine.
Among many other achievements, Katsuko Saruhashi was the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tokyo, the first woman elected to the Science Council of Japan, established the Society of Japanese Women Scientists as well as the Saruhashi Prize, which is awarded yearly to a female scientist who serves as a role model for younger women scientists. Notably, Saruhashi was a strong supporter of equal oppertunities for women in science.
“I would like to see the day when women can contribute to science and technology on an equal footing with men.”
- Katsuko Saruhashi
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Written by: Rachel Yang
Last edited on: March 27, 2023
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