Isabella Karle is distinguished chemist and a pioneer in the scientific field of crystallography. Her work on molecular structures has had a sweeping influence across many scientific fields by allowing, for example scientists to study nerve transmissions and aiding chemists in synthesizing pest repellants.
Isabella and her husband, Jerome, joined the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago in 1942. There, she developed techniques to extract plutonium chloride from a mixture of plutonium oxide.
After the war, Isabella and her husband both joined the United States Naval Research Laboratory, where they worked on various projects for the next 63 years.