10 Women in STEM Who Impacted History
Most STEM fields have been and continue to be male-dominated. While today there are actions being taken to try to rectify this imbalance, brilliant women in the past struggled to be recognized for their achievements.
There are countless women who have innovated, invented, and inspired mathematics and science – sadly, some of whom may never be acknowledged for their breakthroughs. In honor of Women’s History Month, here are 10 women who have furthered mankind’s progress with their incredible scientific discoveries.
Caroline Herschel (1750-1848): Caroline Herschel, a German astronomer, was the first woman to discover a comet. She went on to become the first woman to receive a salary for being a scientist, as well as the first woman to hold a position in English government.
Mary Anning (1799-1847): Mary Anning was an English fossil collector and paleontologist. From a young age, she made important discoveries in Jurassic era marine fossil beds, and also found numerous mostly-complete fossils of various dinosaurs. Her work was often used in publications of her time.
Marie Curie (1867-1934): Marie Curie was born in Poland in 1867. She went on to discover two elements (polonium and radium) and did pioneering work on the theory of radioactivity. She died most likely of radiation poisoning.
Lise Meitner (1878-1968): Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who discovered the element protactinium and nuclear fission, with the help of her nephew. Her work went on to be used in the creation of nuclear reactors and weapons.
Emmy Noether (1882-1935): Emmy Noether was a German mathematician who made several discoveries fundamental to mathematical physics, abstract algebra, and group theory. She is lauded for some of the most important unifying breakthroughs in math, logic, and topology.
Barbara McClintock (1902-1992): Barbara McClintock was an American cytogeneticist who made breakthroughs in the study of genetics, particularly in plants. Through her study of various races of maize, she proved fundamental biological concepts like genetic recombinance and the idea that genes determine the expression of physical traits.
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997): Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American nuclear and particle physicist who made significant contributions to both fields. She proved that parity was not conserved, which had a resounding effect on the rest of the physics community. Later in her life, she spoke out against gender discrimination, posing sarcastically, "I wonder whether the tiny atoms and nuclei, or the mathematical symbols, or the DNA molecules have any preference for either masculine or feminine treatment?"
Gertrude B. Elion (1918-1999): Gertrude Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist. She helped design innovative methods of rational drug design – understanding the intended purpose of a drug, and working backwards to achieve it. Her work led to drugs used against AIDS, antiviral medication used against herpes, and treatments used to fight cancer and organ transplant rejection.
Katherine Johnson (1918-2020): Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician who worked at NASA for 33 years. Her work on orbital mechanics was critical to the success of the first manned U.S. spaceflights, and she was one of the first female African-American scientists to work at NASA.
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958): Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist whose achievements went largely unrecognized in her lifetime, the praise going to scientists who wrongfully used material from her unpublished work. Her work on X-ray crystallography was paramount to the discovery of DNA’s double helix, the structure of coal and viruses, and numerous other fields.
