Climate scientists have known for over a century that carbon dioxide gas absorbs energy better than oxygen, nitrogen or most other atmospheric gases. The first discussion of this property and the likelihood that increases in CO2 would increase global temperature have been attributed to Irish physicist John Tyndall in 1859. But an article I recently saw referenced on Twitter from Smithsonian magazine shows that the original experimental scientist who tested this property was actually Eunice Foote, who presented her work at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Albany NY on August 23, 1856. As a female scientist myself, I am very interested in both how she did the experiment and how she got overlooked when it was time to get credit for the work. You can read the 2016 story at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lady-scientist-helped-revolutionize-climate-science-didnt-get-credit-180961291/.
