In a realm that is still presumptuously led by males, the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), has showcased the power and potential of women in their respective positions. To commemorate International Women’s Day, let us explore some of the most significant female figures who carved the path of present day science.
1. Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958): Often overshadowed by male scientists, Franklin made vast advancements in x-ray crystallography, leading to the understanding of DNA structure, as revealed by scientists, such as, James Watson and Francis Crick.
2. Marie Curie (1867-1934): The first woman to win the Nobel Prize, Curie honed in her technique to discover polonium and radium. Curie made a name for herself as not only a collaborator with her husband, Pierre Curie, but as a woman renowned for the theory of radioactivity and beyond in the field of chemistry.
3. Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997): Wu was a leading physicist and Noble Prize winner, who worked on the Manhattan Project. Her most famous works, include the Wu Experiment that disproved the Law of Conservation of Parity. For her extensive contributions to the science community, Wu is most commonly known as, “The First Lady of Physics”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxYHbHyQpZ0
4. Hypatia (350AD-415AD): A Greek mathematician, astronomer and philosopher in Egypt who delved into education and teaching. As opposed to dressing like a woman in that time, Hypatia dressed in scholarly garbs. An attack against Hypatia for her pagan beliefs, forced her students to flee to Athens. Although there is a minute record of Hypatia’s works, her legacy lived on through the impacts that her students made with the thriving of her political and mathematical theories.
5. Roberta Bondar (1945- ): The first female Canadian astronaut, Bondar is the epitome of the realization of shooting for the stars. Among her list of accomplishments, is a neuroscience degree, which allowed her to make groundbreaking understandings in space medicine and be the first astronaut-neurologist.