With Women’s History Month quickly coming to an end (two days!), I thought I’d share some really cool ladies of science (go STEM fields!!) that you may or may not have already heard about and should most definitely know! Without further ado… drumroll please…
1. Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind was an English Chemist whose work was critical to our understanding of DNA today. She is most well-known for her x-ray diffraction images of DNA which actually led to the discovery that DNA is in the shape of a double-helix! Unfortunately, two colleagues of hers named Watson & Crick took her work without crediting her (plagiarism is not a joke, kids!), and she never really got the recognition she deserved. Today, however, she is recognized as contributing the most to our understanding of DNA, including that it is the source of genes.
2. Chien-Shiung Wu
This woman was a straight up boss. Let me break it down: she was a Chinese American theoretical physicist that discovered the idea of parity nonconservation, which surprised pretty much everyone. Her work led to her getting a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 as well as so many honors and awards it would put Meryl Streep to shame. These include: the first female President of the American Physical Society, the first person ever(!) selected to receive a Wolf Prize in physics, and the first living scientist to have an asteroid named after her. Along the way, she also got some just all-around awesome nicknames like First Lady of Physics and Queen of Nuclear Research.
3. Ada Lovelace
Besides having one of the raddest names ever, Ada Lovelace has been credited with making major contributions to the development of computers. She was a 19th century British mathematician and is also considered the first ever computer programmer. That’s right friends: the first EVER computer programmer. Basically, she wrote the first algorithm that was meant to be carried out by a machine and boom the rest is history. Today, she has several programs and awards founded in her name.
4. Hedy Lamarr
Hedy was a mid-20th century American and Austrian actress who was also an inventor. In addition to looking absolutely fab (I mean, look at that photo), she co-invented the technology for spread spectrum and frequency hopping communications. Why is that important? Because that technology is used in things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth today! So, she’s basically the person to thank for getting internet on your laptop and phone!
5. Marie Maynard Daly
Marie was an American biochemist and was the first African America woman to receive a PhD in Chemistry, which she got from Columbia in 1947. As if that wasn’t enough already, she went on to become a lecturer and served on the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences. On top of all that, she decided to give back to the community and spent much of her career focusing on helping minority students, even setting up a Queens College scholarship for minory students majoring in chemistry or physics.
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And there you have it! More great historical women that we can spread the love to. I’ll leave you with the great words of the Queen Bey herself…