Albert Einstein , Charles Darwin , Isaac Newton , Blaise Pascal , Sigmund Freud or Stephen Hawking they are names that arise automatically every time we talk about science. But, Are all the renowned scientists men? The answer is a definit no . There may be many people who know Marie Curie and her research about radioactivity, but there are also women scientists who are worth knowing and who have been forgotten by the great majority. In Supercurious we want to give them the recognition they deserve. Are you accompanying us to discover them?
10 Women Scientists that are worth knowing
1. Marie Curie
She was a pioneering scientific woman in many fields since, beyond feeling obligated the standards of femininity of her time, she dedicated herself to follow his passion regardless of the circumstances or the consequences. So much so, that it became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physical , as well as the first person to receive two Nobel prizes in different specialties (He also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry discovering radioactivity and many of its applications with her husband Pierre). In addition, if all this were not enough, he was also the first person from the University of Paris .
As a curious fact, we can tell you that the Nobel prizewinner wanted to give it to her husband only, but he refused to receive it if they did not recognize the merit of her too. If you want to know in greater depth his incredible story, we recommend you do not miss our entry about Who was Marie Curie .
2. Hypatia of Alexandria
In the ancient world, women stood out in the field of science. In the city of Alexandria lived Hypatia, a woman who highlighted in the field of maths , although also in other fields such as philosophy and astronomy . Even Socrates himself praised his work! Unfortunately, Bishop Cyril considered his works a sacrilege and, for them, ordered his murder. Consequently, his work was hidden.
Although he excelled in the field of mathematics, also in philosophy and astronomy . Until the same Socrates he praised his work. Unfortunately, Bishop Cyril considered his works a sacrilege and ordered his murder. Thus, his work was hidden due to religious reasons.
3. Ada Lovelace
The third of our scientific women is Ada, countess of Lovelace. Born in the 19th century, it was ahead of its time and she is considered the mother of computing, as well as the first programmer in history . He knew what capabilities a computer could reach before it did not even exist and applied them to the world of mathematics. It was based on the idea of Charles Babbage to create an analytical machine, which, however, never came into existence.
4. Jocely Bell
Jocelyn Bell is another case of women scientists who do not enjoy the recognition they deserve. Jocelyn it was covered up by its own teacher, Antony Hewish; he used Jocelyn's research when she was still his student to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974. This injustice concealed from public eyes the astrophysics that discovered the first radiosignal of a pulsar.
5. Margarita Salas
In Spain There are also great women scientists and, just to give an example, we will talk about Margarita Salas. His work in the field of biology molecular is of enormous importance, since without it the human being would know much less about his own genetic code .
She herself said that, at the beginning of her career, they tried to leave her aside from research because she was a woman and therefore "she was not worthy to be a scientist". Their efforts demonstrated that science is not a gender issue , packing and going to work in the United States hand in hand with Severo Ochoa, who herself says she treated her as a person and not as a woman.
6. Rosalind Franklin
It was one of the leading women scientists in the fields of chemistry and crystallography (which is the study of crystalline structures of minerals, simplifying a lot). Jocelyn was not only a great scientist but also had a remarkable solidarity side: she donated the money from her first university scholarship to refugee students as a result of the WWII .
Later he studied in Cambridge, won a scholarship there for physics and chemistry, he belonged to several research groups of various institutions. It was at the University of Paris where it was consolidated as a renowned X-ray crystallographer whose investigations were fundamental to understand the DNA of viruses, carbon and graphite, since it revealed its double helix structure .
7. Lise Meitner
Another of the scientific women who stand out is Lise Meitner, who dedicated her life to researching radioactivity and nuclear physics. It even came to form part of the team of researchers that discovered nuclear fission . Of course, unlike her colleagues (all men), she did not receive a Nobel prize for her work. In recognition of the scientific community's work, item number 109 was named as meitnerium in his honor.
8. Hedy Lamarr
She was a film actress and inventor, proving that the prejudices about a beautiful woman is not intelligent and vice versa, very ingrained for the moment. Hedy was co-inventor of a method that would later allow the development of wireless communications: the spread spectrum . When she started working as a US collaborator against the Nazis, she came to invent a secret system of communications by frequency hopping.
9. Emmy Noether
She was one of the most recognized women scientists by her colleagues (including Albert Einstein) but not by the universities, which excluded her as a woman. He specialized in mathematics, more precisely in the invariant systems and his work was so arduous and innovative that he came to develop a theorem of his observations, known as Noether's theorem , which explained the reasons for conservation of symmetries in nature.
10. Barbara McClintock
Of this scientific woman you have probably heard little but her contributions to knowledge were many. It was botany of titulación and specialized in the study of the chromosomes of the corn and its genetic transportation to the study of the human being. Barbara made the first genetic mapping in corn, presented the description of the first map of this ligament and highlighted the role of centromeres and telomeres in chromosomes . For his findings, he received the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology.
In addition to our Scientific Women, do not miss ...
There are countless names of scientists whose research has changed the world for the better, but there are very few who have come to be recognized by the societies of their time and by our modern history. Therefore, we recommend investigating and exposing all women to whom history seems to have forgotten. If you enjoyed discovering the stories of these women scientists, do not miss our suggestions.
- International Women's Day : Discover everything you need to know about March 8th.
- You can also start investigating the history of others Important Women of History . In addition, you can consult individual articles such as:
- Who was Mata Hari , the most famous real spy in history.
- Who was Ana Bolena and its importance in the history of England.
- Who was Joan of Arc , a figure that changed the history of France.
With the conclusion of our collection of women scientists, we encourage you to leave us a comment. Did you know the history of these women scientists? Do you know other figures that you want to suggest us? Recommend us other women scientists to expand our collection. We will love reading!