Berta Karlik was born in Vienna, Austria with a wealthy family and was home schooled during her elementary days. At home, she also learned how to play the piano and speak and write French, Dutch and English. She attended Reform-Realgymnasium from 1919 to 1923. When she graduated, she was accepted as a student to the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Vienna and while she was enrolled as a student, she became a member of Hans Peterson’s research group at the Radium Institute with her specialty of the scintillation counter. Also, she attended a fellowship from International Federation of University Women in which she traveled while working for the Radium Institute. She graduated in 1928 and accepted to be a teacher at Realgymnasium after receiving her degree in Ph. D..
She worked on crystallography and used X- rays to study the structure of crystals at a laboratory which was run by William Bragg in London in 1930. Her knowledge of radiophysics attracted the attention of crystallographers Elie Knaggs and Helen Gilchrist and formed a group with these two and at that same year, she started her interaction with other female physicists when she visited Marie Curie’s lab in Paris. Her other female physicists friends were Ellen Gleditsch and Eva Redmtedt, as well as Lisa Meitner.
Berta Karlik studied in Paris and London as well and after this, she started working for the Institut für Radiumforschug in Vienna in 1931. She gave lectures and slowly advanced in the ranking of the institute from 1937. While doing these, she joined a group focusing on seawater research headed by a Swedish physicist names Hans Petterson. She got to use her knowledge in oceanography and radioactivity in this group that’s why she was able to contribute to the study of the biological issue of the contamination of uranium in seawater.
Because of her discovery of the use of astatine, she became the provisional director at the Institute for Radium Research and official in 1947. Also, in 1956, she became the first full professor at the University of Vienna and in 1973, she retired but still worked until her death in 1990.
She worked on crystallography and used X- rays to study the structure of crystals at a laboratory which was run by William Bragg in London in 1930. Her knowledge of radiophysics attracted the attention of crystallographers Elie Knaggs and Helen Gilchrist and formed a group with these two and at that same year, she started her interaction with other female physicists when she visited Marie Curie’s lab in Paris. Her other female physicists friends were Ellen Gleditsch and Eva Redmtedt, as well as Lisa Meitner.
Berta Karlik studied in Paris and London as well and after this, she started working for the Institut für Radiumforschug in Vienna in 1931. She gave lectures and slowly advanced in the ranking of the institute from 1937. While doing these, she joined a group focusing on seawater research headed by a Swedish physicist names Hans Petterson. She got to use her knowledge in oceanography and radioactivity in this group that’s why she was able to contribute to the study of the biological issue of the contamination of uranium in seawater.
Because of her discovery of the use of astatine, she became the provisional director at the Institute for Radium Research and official in 1947. Also, in 1956, she became the first full professor at the University of Vienna and in 1973, she retired but still worked until her death in 1990.
Kyla Mariano
12-Tereshkova
12-Tereshkova