Even after many progressive women’s right movements, we are still burdened with the beast known as patriarchy, and it’s our job to dismantle it. Through the course of history, the mind of a woman has given us a lot but has been sidelined by the effects of sexism or lack or opportunity. So many women who have accomplished great feats whether they be in technology, anatomy or modern physics, were unfortunately snubbed by men. No matter how big the discovery, so many women’s ideas have fallen victim to greedy men who claimed those discoveries as their own. The accomplishments of women alike and different, range from wireless communication to the structure of DNA. Here’s a list of the women you may not know but have definitely felt their influence at one point or another.
Rosalind Franklin, Discovered the Double Helix.
Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist whose advancements in x-ray photography led her to capture the structure of DNA. You may remember from any intro level biology class that Waston and Crick were responsible for the discovery of the double helix… but what if i told you that this is pretty much completely wrong. Franklin proudly presented her findings at a lecture where James Watson was in attendance. He apparently snoozed off as she presented her photograph of the structure and was later shown the image by Franklin’s supervisor. In 1953 Watson and Crick published their study alongside the image Franklin had taken (snakes!!). The response to their study led them to earning their Nobel Prize win in 1962, leaving Franklin unrecognized. Next time you crack open a biology textbook and read about Watson and Crick just know that they’d be nowhere without the lady that made a name for them.
Hedy Lamarr, Inventor of Wireless Communication
None of us could live without wireless communication and we have Hollywood Actress and genius innovator, Hedy Lamarr to thank for that. Lamarr lived the life of the average, glamorous movie star except she spent her nights developing a frequency-hopping communication system. From running lines to running codes, Lamarr was on the road to major recognition. Frequency hopping is the reason we have crucial modern technologies such as wifi, bluetooth, and gps. During World War 2, her invention posed importance as it would’ve prevented military radios from being bugged. After ignoring her proposal, the U.S government dismissed her patent but later used her idea to develop new technologies. She was only recognized as the original composer of this work, receiving the Electronic Frontier Foundation Award, shortly after her death in 2000.
Mileva Maric Einstein, Revolutionized Modern Physics
In almost every context, Albert Einstein is synonymous with genius. The works of Einstein landed him a spot in every history textbook since the publication of his first findings in modern physics on the theory of relativity. However not everyone is aware of Einstein’s wife, Mileva Maric Einstein who helped pave the way for the theory that associated the force of gravity with the changing geometry of space-time. The release of old letters written by Albert himself gives us a glimpse into the contributions of Maric. But at this point it’s no surprise that Maric did not get the recognition she deserved. The 20th century plagued European female scientists with many institutional obstacles to be excluded from their contributions.
The ENIAC Programmers, Creators of the First Electronic Computer
Where would we be without the invention of the electronic computer, like seriously? The first computer ever built in 1946 can be attributed to six ridiculously talented women, and yet one man snagged all the publicity. The ENIAC Project was run by the U.S Army in Philadelphia as a part of a secret World War 2 project. These genius women learned to program without ANY programming languages or tools only diagrams. John Mauchly is often the only one who gets credit for this major development in technology, but these gals did almost all the behind the scenes work.