The Remarkable Life and Career of Ellen Swallow Richards: Pioneer in Science and Technology

Prologue

June 18, 1883, Low Moor, Virginia

The small, compactly built woman ignored the gasps and shouts from the men standing below. To prevent them from stopping her, she knew she must move quickly. She focused her strength on the difficult vertical rope climb up the side of the steep, rocky cliff. This was not easy for she was dressed in petticoats and a heavy, long skirt.

The stunned men shouted for her to come down. Moments before they had been arguing over which of them would be first to attempt the difficult climb. She kept going, pulling herself hand-over-hand toward the high cave entrance. Finally, she reached the opening and pulled herself through. Calcite and iron ore stalactites hung just ahead. This was what she’d been determined to see.

The cave was dark and water dripped on her as her eyes strained to adjust to the near blackness. Still breathing hard from the climb, she slowly ventured forward, barely making out the shapes of the stalactites. Moving over the uneven and wet, rocky ground, she suddenly slipped and fell into the muddy darkness. Worse still, she hit her head hard and knocked herself unconscious. It was, she later said, “a spicy adventure.”