Betty Lou Raskin

Betty Lou Raskin
Raskin, c. 1961
BornApril 9, 1924
DiedDecember 17, 2010
OccupationChemist
Known forCreation of 'Holey Smoke'

Betty Lou Raskin (April 9, 1924[1] – December 17, 2010) was an American chemist who researched plastics in the 1950s and 1960s. A Marylander, she grew up in Baltimore and obtained a chemistry degree to begin work at the radiation laboratory of Johns Hopkins University.

One of the primary products she developed while researching polystyrene was a foamed version that she turned into an opaque smoke good for military signaling, skywriting, and potential contamination protection. A part of multiple scientific organizations, she used her membership to promote women in science and spoke out against the cultural discrimination of intelligent and successful women.

  1. ^ Dates of birth and death for Betty L. Raskin per the United States Social Security Death Index