Edith Clarke is chiefly recognized for her contributions to simplifying and mechanizing the calculations required in power systems analysis. A pioneering female engineer, Clarke was the first woman granted an M.S. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and later became the first woman to deliver a technical paper before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE).

Clarke was born on a farm near Ellicott City, Maryland, one of nine children of Susan Dorsey (Owings) and John Ridgely Clarke, a lawyer. She attended a nearby school until 1897, when she entered boarding school after the deaths of her parents. She returned home two years later with no ambition for a career. Clarke decided to study languages with a tutor, however, and entered Vassar College in 1904. There she studied mathematics and astronomy, graduating with an A.B. in 1908.

Clarke taught math and science in San Francisco...