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Another of Richards’s interests was nutrition. She opened the
New England Kitchen, where immigrants were taught how to cook
nutritious, inexpensive food. She cared deeply about public health.
She urged women to eat right and exercise.
Ellen Swallow Richards died at the age of 68 on March 30, 1911.
Many people consider her to be the founder of ecology. She said,
“The quality of life depends on the ability of society to teach its
members how to live in harmony with their environment.” It was
her belief that science should make people healthier. She worked
hard to make that happen.
The MIT chemistry department in 1900
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