It is a known fact that the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are male dominated, but that is no deterrent for women in these fields. It is important to have strong role models that represent equality and intelligence regardless of gender. Here are five important women that have greatly impacted the science community and are personal role models to me.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was a Polish and French physicist and chemist who researched radioactivity. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. Her research includes: theory of radioactivity, techniques for isolation of radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of elements polonium and radium. When she discovered her first element, polonium, she named it after her homeland of Poland.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and x-ray crystallographer. Franklin is known for her work of x-ray diffractions of DNA and her famous Photo 51 which lead to the discovery of DNA double helix structure. Unfortunately, she died in 1958 before she could be nominated for a Nobel Prize. Her colleagues, James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in 1962 because there wasn’t a rule against posthumous awards or nominations by the committee. It just was not common at the time. There are so many recognitions of her work throughout many different countries, the colleges she attended and did her research at, and many other universities and societies.
Grace Hopper
Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral. Hopper, a Yale graduate, was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark 1 computer. She was rejected from enlisting in the Navy because she was 34 years old at the time. This did not discourage her, she joined the Navy reserves. She theorized that there could be a programming language that mimics the English language. This theory was made possible and was utilized by the military to make a machine-independent programming language. For her work, she received the National Medal of Technology and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously by former President Barack Obama.
Mae C. Jemison
Mae C. Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and most famously a NASA astronaut. Jemison was the first African-American woman to travel into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She worked for the Peace Corps for two years as a physician before being selected by NASA to be an astronaut. During her space mission, she conducted experiments on topics ranging from weightlessness to motion sickness on herself and six other crew members as a mission specialist.
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson is an African-American mathematician. Johnson was famous for her handwritten, complex calculations of orbital mechanics when she was a NASA employee that were critical to the success of U.S. manned space flights. Calculations such as trajectories, launch windows, emergency return paths, rendezvous paths for Apollo lunar landers, and many more were correctly calculated and were pivotal to a successful mission for NASA. Former President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for all of her work. In 2017, Johnson and her team’s work was highlighted in the movie Hidden Figures.
These women all embody a great work ethic and dedication, as well as incredible intelligence.
These women are really inspiring and perfect representations that hard work does not go unnoticed.
So keep working hard and it will all pay off!
Via Giphy