Louise B. Young (1919–2010)

Louise B. Young died peacefully last week at the age of 90 at her home in Lake Forest, Illinois. A noted author on science and the environment, she wrote on a wide range of topics, including atmospheric science, ecology, physics, and astronomy. She was born in 1919 on a remote farm in southern Ohio. In 1936, she won a scholarship to Vassar College, where she majored in physics - the only woman in her class to do so. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa she worked for a time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York where she specialized in the work of Edward Steichen and Ansel Adams. At the start of World War II she was invited to join the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, where she was part of an elite team of scientists developing the new science of radar. In 1944, she married Hobart P. Young and moved to Winnetka Illinois, where she lived for many years. Beginning in the 1960's she wrote a series of books that explained the basics of physics, astronomy, geology, and environmental science for lay audiences. In 1973, she published Power Over People, one of the first books to point out the potential health risks posed by high-voltage power lines due to the electromagnetic fields that they create. Other books include The Unfinished Universe, Sowing the Wind, Earth's Aura, Exploring the Universe, and The Blue Planet. Her most recent book, Islands: Portraits of Miniature Worlds, argued that the history of island ecologies can help us understand how better to manage the global environment. She remained active into old age, publishing her last book at the age of 80. She also fulfilled a lifelong dream when, at the age of 60, she earned a Master's of Science degree in Geology at the University of Chicago. Subsequently she and her late husband established a professorship in environmental science at the University of Chicago. She is survived by her children, Peyton Young of Oxford England, Anne Young of Boston Massachusetts, and Isabel Halley of Columbus Ohio; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. All services are private.