{"id":5733,"date":"2020-12-15T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T23:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/?p=5733"},"modified":"2020-12-15T18:03:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T23:03:48","slug":"alice-ball-a-stolen-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/2020\/12\/15\/alice-ball-a-stolen-breakthrough\/","title":{"rendered":"Alice Ball: A Stolen Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The problem of gender inequality in scientific fields was a problem that originally stemmed from Aristotle\u2019s legacy.\u00a0 Aristotle defined the male as a complete being and females as incomplete males, while also stating that females\u2019 mental capabilities were inferior.\u00a0 These claims are completely false, as we now know, and influenced generations of inequality and discrimination against women\u2019s knowledge production and scientific pursuits.\u00a0 Now, in 2020, we recognize the endless contributions women have made to different fields of science for generations, as it is impossible to discredit their significance.\u00a0 Out of the endless women who contributed to science in breakthrough ways, I believe that the work of Alice Ball is particularly worth highlighting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Alice Ball was an African American woman born into a middle class family in Seattle in 1982.\u00a0 She exce<\/span>lled in school and ended up pursuing a chemistry degree from the University of Hawaii (College of Hawaii at th<\/span>e time).\u00a0 Upon her graduation Ball became both the first African American and first women to graduate from the college with a masters degree, as<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0she completed her M.S. in chemistry.\u00a0 At the age of 23 she had already graduated and set milestones for both women and black scientists, and she continued to make strides in her career.\u00a0 After graduation Ball was offered a job as a chemistry professor at the university, and became the first female chemistry professor at University of Hawaii.\u00a0 It was under this position where Ball was able to research and solidified her foot in scientific history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Leprosy had been one of the most devastating diseases until Alice Ball was able to make a breakthrough remedy.\u00a0 The disease with little chance of recovery would cause people to isolate from their family and friends, and has horrible social connotations around it.\u00a0 Previously to Ball\u2019s work the only treatment for leprosy was chaulmoogra oil, from the chaulmoogra tree.\u00a0 This would be ingested or used on top of the skin, as it was way too thick to be injected.\u00a0 Ball was able to discover a method of isolating the components of the chaulmoogra oil which allowed it to be mixed into a water soluble form.\u00a0 This allowed Ball to create a version of the oil which could be injected and absorbed by the body.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>This breakthrough became known as the Ball Method and served as the primary treatment for leprosy until the 1940\u2019s, helping improve conditions for patients more so than any prior remedy.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Unfortunately Alice Ball became sick while researching and teaching at the university and eventually died at the young age of 24.\u00a0 Her life had tragically been cut too short and even more upsetting is how the President of theUniversity of Hawaii, also a chemist, Dr. Arthur Dean carried out Ball\u2019s research.\u00a0 Ball had died before being able to finish and publish her findings, so Dr. Dean did this himself and coined the method the \u201cDean Method\u201d.\u00a0 Dr. Dean was credited with the breakthrough for decades and shamefully gave another example in history of men stealing women\u2019s scientific work.\u00a0 It wasn’t until the turn of the century that Alice Ball finally gained the recognition she deserved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In 2000 the University of Hawaii finally recognized that it was Alice Ball who had discovered the methods leading to the injectable chaulmoogra oil.\u00a0 They placed a plaque in her memory on the lone chaulmoogra tree on campus, and the governor of Hawaii also recognized her significance by making February 29th Alice Ball day.\u00a0 These dedications highlight the impressive achievements Ball was able to make before the age of 25, and how her legacy will live on in Hawaiian culture forever.\u00a0 Ball\u2019s story shows yet another example of women\u2019s work being stolen by men, and how her contributions in the fields of science would\u2019ve been endless had she not tragically died so young.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.biography.com\/scientist\/alice-ball<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/scientificwomen.net\/women\/ball-alice-121<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alice_Ball#\/media\/File:Alicia_Augusta_Ball.jpg<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The problem of gender inequality in scientific fields was a problem that originally stemmed from Aristotle\u2019s legacy.\u00a0 Aristotle defined the male as … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10697,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[469613],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5735,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733\/revisions\/5735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}