Early life Mabel Augusta Chase was born on October 11, 1865, in Lyndonville,
New York. Her parents were Julia Augusta Spence and Frederick Augustus Chase. He taught at
Fisk University, a historically black university, in Nashville and was also president of
Lyons Female College in Clinton, Iowa. She then attended
Cornell University, where she obtained her master's degree finishing in 1890. She wrote her dissertation on a subject that would be a common interest throughout her life:
light. Specifically, the writing studied
optics and the relationship between the shape of the human eye and the perception of
color.
Mount Holyoke College, and other Massachusetts area schools She was a professor at Mount Holyoke from 1906 to 1933 and achieved the title of Professor Emeritus. She was seen as the second in command of the physics department during her time and mentored students and other professors. Students described her as not very organized but very understanding and a good teacher. Her work throughout her career was varied but mostly centered around research and advancements in light and color. Her work on advanced topics in
physics took her to other institutions, including the
University of Chicago and the
Imperial College of London. Their experiments were based on newly published work by German scientist
Wilhelm Röntgen. a battery, glass plates and holders, and photographic chemicals to produce "shadow photographs" or x-ray images. Like her father before her, Chase was buried in
Nashville, Tennessee. == References ==