# Google Doodle -- Hedwig Kohn

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 5, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084 "2019-04-05T12:01:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084/1 "2019-04-05T12:01:57Z")

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Today’s (April 5 2019) Google Doodle features Hedwig Kohn, a spectroscopist who died in 1964. I’d never heard of her, despite studying spectroscopy, but that’s not surprising – judging from her Wikipedia page most things by and about her were written in German. On top of which, as a female scientist, she was undoubtedly woefully underrepresented in the past. This is just the kind of thing the Google Doodles are best at – drawing attention to the overlooked.

> **[Google Doodle celebrates pioneering physicist Hedwig Kohn](https://www.cnet.com/culture/internet/google-doodle-celebrates-pioneering-physicist-hedwig-kohn/)**
>
> The courageous physicist, who fled Germany during World War II, helped develop techniques to identify and understand atoms.

My one complaint is that they’ve got the rays being bent by the prism completely wrong. I’m prepared to cut them some slack on this. after all, they’re trying to convey the idea of her being a spectroscopist in a single image AND trying to make it spell out “Google” at the same time. But this is an incredibly common error, and it would take much to get it right.

[https://stock.adobe.com/ro/images/prism-bending-and-refracting-white-light/12044025](https://stock.adobe.com/ro/images/prism-bending-and-refracting-white-light/12044025)

> **[CHAKRA HEALING. Balancing and Healing the 7 Chakras | Energy healing, Reiki,...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/192669690285952861/)**
>
> Dec 12, 2017 - CHAKRA HEALING. Balancing and Healing the 7 Chakras

[https://stock.adobe.com/images/prism-bending-and-refracting-white-light/12044025](https://stock.adobe.com/images/prism-bending-and-refracting-white-light/12044025)

Heck, Pink Floyd’s _Dark Side of the Moon_ got it right:

> **[The Dark Side of the Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon)**
>
> The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. Developed during live performances before recording began, it was conceived as a concept album that would focus on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and partly deal with the mental health problems of former band member Syd Barrett, who departed the group in 1968. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI St...

> **[Dispersion on the dark side of the moon - Chalkdust](http://chalkdustmagazine.com/blog/mathematical-album-art/)**
>
> We discuss the mathematics behind the album cover for Pink Floyd's 'Dark side of the moon'.

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084/2 "2019-04-05T12:48:42Z")

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Good point. It would not have taken much to get the progression of colors in the right direction. Apparently the coders at Google don’t remember much from their physics classes.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084/3 "2019-04-05T13:02:01Z")

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Correction-- that should read “wouldn’t take much to get it right”

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-doodle-hedwig-kohn/832084/4 "2019-04-05T13:02:57Z")

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> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> My one complaint is that they’ve got the rays being bent by the prism completely wrong.

This is why I love the Dope!