By now, most people have watched, or at least heard of, Greta Gerwigs’ ‘Barbie’. The box-office hit was not only a fun film to go and see with your girlfriends but had an extremely impactful message that women all over the world could relate to. If nothing else, it showed us that women are capable of so much more than society gives them credit for.
For decades, men have been given credit for work women put in. So, in celebration of women’s month, and because this is something we should all know, here are 7 women who had a major impact on history, through innovation and science:
1. Hedy Lamarr
Although Lamarr is known for being an actress, she left her mark on the tech industry too. According to National Women’s History Museum, she was an inventor who developed what we now refer to as ‘frequency hopping’ – technology used in Wifi, Blueooth and GPS connections. Even though she was famous at the time, her work was only appreciated years after her passing.
2. Marie Curie
If you’ve heard of one woman in STEM, chances are it’s Marie Curie. As stated in Biography, Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who was known for her research in radiology. During WW1, she created a way of making X-ray units mobile. She was the first ever person to win a Nobel prize twice, the second time for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium.
3. Rosalind Franklin
Franklin as a British chemist whose work led to the one of history’s greatest scientific discoveries: the molecular structure of DNA, more specifically the double-helix. Although her research laid the groundwork for the discovery, she was never given recognition, and the DNA model was instead named after two men who took credit for the finding. (Nature Education, 2014)
4. Clara Barton
Barton was a nurse in the American Civil War, and the founder of the American Red Cross. (History.com, 2009). Before starting her self-taught education as a nurse, she provided supplies to battlefields, which led to her being elected as head nurse during the Civil War. She was also a huge fighter for women’s suffrage.
5. Katherine Johnson
Johnson worked for over 30 years as a mathematician at NASA (previously NACA). According to New Scientist, she did the orbital mechanic calculations needed to determine the trajectory of the first crewed spaceship launch. She helped send astronauts to the moon for the very first time. In 2015 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
6. Chien-Shiung Wu
Wu, often referred to as, “The First Lady of Physics”, was a Chinese-American nuclear physicist. As mentioned in Biography, she invented what is known as the Wu Experiment; a way to determine whether P-conservation also applied to weak interactions, which a ground-breaking discovery in particle and nuclear physics. Like many female scientists at the time, her work was not recognized when it came to awarding Nobel prizes.
7. Dorothy Hodgkin
As stated in The Nobel Prize, Hodgkin was an English Chemist who improved X-ray crystallography, which was used to determine structures of biomolecules. Using this, she was able to identify the structure of penicillin and vitamin B-12, which won her a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964.
It’s a fact that women in STEM are, and have always been, underappreciated. Those who managed to make a name for themselves had to overcome obstacles that they should not have had to face. Even today, women face discrimination and harassment. The lack of women in science fields, or women who own multi-million-dollar tech companies has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence level and almost everything to do with how welcoming these industries have been to them.
I think it’s time we start appreciating all women have done for society, even when the world was completely against them.
Reference List:
- Biography.com Editors (2021). Marie Curie – Movie, Children & Death. [online] Biography. Available at: https://www.biography.com/scientists/marie-curie. [Accessed 3 August 2023].
- Biography.com Editors (2016). Chien-Shiung Wu. [online] Biography. Available at: https://www.biography.com/scientist/chien-shiung-wu. [Accessed 2 August 2023].
- Cheslak, C. (2018). Hedy Lamarr. [online] National Women’s History Museum. Available at: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/hedy-lamarr. [Accessed 8 August 2023].
- History.com Editors (2009). Clara Barton. [online] HISTORY. Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/clara-barton. [Accessed 2 August 2023].
- Nature Education (2014). Rosalind Franklin: A Crucial Contribution. [online] Nature.com. Available at: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/rosalind-franklin-a-crucial-contribution-6538012/. [Accessed 2 August 2023].
- New Scientist. Katherine Johnson memoir: Her incredible life as a NASA mathematician. [online] New Scientist. Available at: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25033400-400-katherine-johnson-memoir-her-incredible-life-as-a-nasa-mathematician/ [Accessed 2 August 2023].
- Nobelprize.org. (2019). The Nobel Prize | Women who changed science | Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin. [online] Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/dorothy-hodgkin. [Accessed 3 August 2023].