Appreciation Thread for Women of Science

[teryx]

Lets not forget Jane Goodall, who not having any formal training as a scientist, challenged the scientific establishment in how we have come to observe animal behavior.

[reckoner27]

the same thing happens in classical music.
Not so many girl composer where recognize at the time and even
some of them had to take men's name for their pieces.
It's also not so long ago that woman were aloud to become interprete... as exemple, the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the finest orchestra in the world, didnt accepted women in it until 1997....!!!

but to be honest...
the only name that came to my mind on the topic was indeed Mary Curie..
and then.... blank.....
XD

[SketcherForever]

Sarah Palin!

didn't read

[loote]

Thanks for the replies folks. I'd like to add astronomer Caroline Herschel. She helped build telescopes, discovered nebulae and star clusters and was the first woman to discover a comet.

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Originally Posted by ITS_ME_K

As a female student who pursues science, I was never really interested in the history of it...
I'm fascinated by 'unexpalinable' things and I've followed science since I was a child.
I know some of the names of scientists through my studies but I never was really bothered by gender...
Besides, long ago most women were prevented from getting a proper education muchless being a noted scientist.
And where I'm from, there are more girls who study science than guys...
In order to be a scientist whether if you're a boy or a girl, you have to be observant, interested in the subject and always questioning..
instead of absorbing some boring complicated theories from a mouldy old text book

But to follow your thread.
Rosalind Elsie Franklin: Pioneer in Molecular Biology
She was one of the scientists who contributed to the study of the structure of DNA

Gender shouldn't matter but it did and still does today. I don't feel there is much harm acknowledging the achievements of these women and giving them the credit they're due. Over here more girls than boys study science up to college/university level. Then, for some reason, there's a flip and only half as many girls as boys pursue it as an option. Perhaps something is putting them off. Perhaps they're not encouraged by the scientist stereotype - see Draw-A-Scientist Test.

And it's true, an interest and passion for a subject is why most people pursue it. As you pointed out, many girls were not allowed to receive higher education and if they did manage to carve out a career they had to work separately from the male counterparts. Many kids are unsure of the career path they'd like to take and a bit of inspiration is no bad thing. Even if learning about these women doesn't inspire them to pursue a scientific career at least it'll teach them that you can achieve anything if you've enough drive and passion.

Originally Posted by Arkantos

Beat me to it darn you, other than her the only one I can think of is Anna Atkins, think she did something to do with botany, can't clearly remember and cba doing any form of research.

She used photography for scientific purposes too. I don't know if she was the first to do so, she may have been the first woman.

Originally Posted by Raiun

The other maddening thing is that even after there was some recognition for women in science, that recognition came with shackles. Harriet Brooks was a nuclear scientist who worked with Marie Curie and held a position at Barnard college. When she became engaged, college policy dictated that she had to give up her position.

This was all too common, even in women's colleges. The attitudes were that women were too delicate to have a work and home life. Some people still think that today.

Originally Posted by reckoner27

the same thing happens in classical music.
Not so many girl composer where recognize at the time and even
some of them had to take men's name for their pieces.
It's also not so long ago that woman were aloud to become interprete... as exemple, the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the finest orchestra in the world, didnt accepted women in it until 1997....!!!

but to be honest...
the only name that came to my mind on the topic was indeed Mary Curie..
and then.... blank.....
XD

I realised, when I posted the thread, that we could have so many other names to add if I didn't restrict it to science. Something along the lines of Women you should know but don't.