A look at some of the women who made history with their groundbreaking scientific work.
Gender biasedness, although being a hot-topic of discussion in recent times, it should be noted that, this is not a new thing. Now-a-days, women contribute half of any national workforce and considered as prominent socio-economic force in the nation's development, yet the gender gap in science and technology still persists. Over the years, numerous women scientists broke all the barriers and contributed significantly in diverse fields of science. They are Inspirations for ambitious girls to prosper in the field of science and technology. So, let’s have a look at some of the greatest women scientists of all time.
Marie Curie: Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist and chemist whose research on radioactivity led the development in numerous fields including cancer treatment. She discovered two chemical elements named Radium and Polonium and even invented mobile X-ray units that treated over one million soldiers during World War I. She is the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different science fields.
Rosalind Franklin: Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist whose contribution to the world of science is immeasurable yet unrecognized. She worked on X-ray crystallography and went on to discover the double helix structure of DNA. She also did extensive research on the properties of carbon.
Dorothy Hodgkin: Dorothy Hodgkin was an English biological chemist who determined the atomic structure of penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin with the use of X-ray crystallography. She received Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964.
Barbara McClintock: Barbara McClintock was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who researched on the genetic structure of maize and discovered genetic transposition. For this, she won Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1983.
Lise Meitner: Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who discovered the radioactive isotope of protactinium-231. In 1922, she found the reasons behind the Auger effect. She, along with Otto Hahn, did extensive research on nuclear fission.
Alice Ball: Alice Ball was an African-American chemist who lived a short life but made huge contribution to the treatment for leprosy. She worked on chaulmoogra oil and developed an injectable extract which was then used to treat leprosy until 1940s. But Ball didn't receive the due credit for years.
Ada Lovelace: Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician who pioneered in the field of computer science. She worked with Charles Babbage and developed an algorithm to be implemented on computer. She is referred to as the "first computer programmer" in the history.
The list also includes some other scientists such as Rachel Carson, Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, Chien-Shiung Wu, Maria Sibylla Merian, Helen Taussig, Gertrude B. Elion, Marcia Barbosa and others.
