Katherine J. Blodgett, (1898-1979) was the first female scientist hired at General Electric's research lab in 1917, where she assisted Irving Langmuir in his work with monomolecular coatings. Blodgett developed a practical application of Langmuir's theories, adding layers of these compounds to glass to cut reflected glare.

Patent #2,220,660 (March 16, 1938) was issued for the "Film Structure and Method of Preparation".

Katherine Blodgett had a master's degree at age 19, and became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University (1926).