Women have been seen and treated as the less superior sex for as long as we can remember and are continued to be. By men constantly taking over power and asserting their male dominance, women have been marginalized and oppressed. As it is Women’s History Month, it’s time to devote some energy to learning about and appreciating the women we have in our lives, especially the women who have gone unrecognized and thrown in the shadows of a man. Our history books are just one big boy’s club. This article is a well-needed break from that
- The Double Helix
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James D. Watson and Francis H.C Crick were given credit for discovering the double helix formation in human DNA. Rosalind Franklin was the one to produce this image and discover the formation shape, but her image was stolen by these two men and used without her knowledge. Her work was only given a reference, while these two men were awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
- Nuclear Fission
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Lisa Meitner was a student for Max Plank and the first woman to be a professor at a German University. She fled her country due to Nazis with her partner, Otto Hahn, to Scandinavia. The two of them worked together on the idea of nuclear fission which would be used to create the atomic bomb 5 years later. Hahn’s name was the only name on the papers revealing the discovery and was the only recipient of the prize awarded from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Radio Guidance System
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Hedy Lamarr was on track to become a Hollywood star during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She collaborated with George Antheil to create a radio guidance system. The Navy stole this idea and began to incorporate it into technology that would work with weapons. Later, it would be the basis for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
- Monopoly
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Elizabeth Magie created a game called “The Landlord’s Game” to highlight the evil of capitalism and business monopolies. Charles Darrow developed his variation of this game and would later pitch it to the Parker Brothers. The Parker Brothers purchased Magie’s patent and Monopoly would become one of the most popular board games in history. Magie was given a rough net total of $500.
- Neuroscience
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At John Hopkins University, Cadance Pert discovered the receptor that allows opiates to lock into the brain. This discovery was so groundbreaking that it was given an award- just not to her. Her professor, Dr. Solomon Snyder, was given credit and recognized. Pert wrote a letter of protest to the award committee and was only told, “That’s how the game is played.”
Citation: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/brilliant-woman-greedy-men/