Women of Science

Jane Goodall is world-renowned for her long-term study of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. Dian Fossey is a common distractor, but she is known for her work with mountain gorillas.

Hertha Ayrton was a British engineer and physicist who made significant contributions to the study of electric arcs and sand ripples. She was the first woman to win the Hughes Medal.

Chien Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American experimental physicist who made significant contributions to nuclear physics. She is often called the First Lady of Physics.

Mildred Dresselhaus was known as the Queen of Carbon Science for her work on graphite and carbon nanotubes. Her research is fundamental to modern electronics.

Mary Jackson was the first African-American female engineer at NASA. She is featured in the book and film Hidden Figures.

Stephanie Kwolek was a chemist at DuPont who invented Kevlar, a high-strength synthetic fiber used in body armor.

Hedy Lamarr was an actress and inventor who co-developed a frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology during WWII, which later influenced Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Nettie Stevens was a geneticist who discovered that sex is determined by chromosomes, specifically the XY system in insects.

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, which focused on environmental conservation and women's rights through tree planting.

Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring documented the environmental damage caused by pesticides like DDT, leading to significant policy changes.

Barbara McClintock discovered genetic transposition, or jumping genes, in maize, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Clara Barton was a nurse during the American Civil War and founded the American Red Cross.

Grace Hopper was a computer scientist who developed the first compiler and was a pioneer in the development of COBOL.

Ada Lovelace is widely considered the first computer programmer for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.

Agnes Pockels was a self-taught chemist who developed the Pockels trough, a device that allowed for the study of surface films, establishing surface science.

Gerty Cori was the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science (Physiology or Medicine) for her work on the metabolism of glucose.

Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction images, particularly Photo 51, were critical to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

Anna Atkins was a botanist and photographer who published Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book illustrated with photographic images.

Anne McLaren was a developmental biologist whose research on mouse embryos was fundamental to the development of human in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Inge Lehmann was a Danish seismologist who discovered that the Earth has a solid inner core by analyzing seismic waves.

Annie Jump Cannon developed the Harvard Classification Scheme, which categorized stars based on their spectral characteristics (OBAFGKM).

Vera Rubin was an astronomer who provided strong evidence for the existence of dark matter by observing galaxy rotation curves.

Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space in 1983.

Mae C. Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel into space in 1992.