You may not know her name, but Eunice Newton Foote made groundbreaking discoveries about the greenhouse effect in the 1850s. Her experiments showed that different gases, including carbon dioxide, absorb and trap heat, an early milestone in the history of climate science. And even though her findings were published in a leading scientific journal - a rarity in the days of a male-dominated field - her work remained virtually unknown until recently. Now, thanks to playwright Amanda Quaid, we have a dramatized portrait of the scientist's life at the time she published her pioneering study, which lends its name to the title of the play.
This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works' Relativity Series of science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in November 2024.
Directed by Anna Lyse Erikson Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, starring:
Geoffrey Arend as Elisha Foote Tara Lynne Barr as Augusta Foote Scott Brick as the Narrator and Joseph Henry Jake Green as the Glazier Monica McSwain as Mary Foote Emily Swallow as Eunice Newton Foote
Senior Producer: Anna Lyse Erikson Prepared for audio by Mark Holden Recording Engineer and Editor: Neil Wogenson Mixing Engineer: Charles Carroll Designed by Mark Holden and Charles Carroll for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin Foley Artist: Stacey Martinez
In 1856, amateur scientist and early suffragette Eunice Newton Foote published a paper suggesting for the first time that heated gasses such as carbon dioxide could change the earth's temperature. In doing so, Foote created the foundation for climate science. Television actor Emily Swallow leads a fine ensemble cast as Foote attempts to balance her innate curiosity with the demands of nineteenth-c
