From the Science History Institute. Using X-ray crystallography, Hodgkin determined the structures of penicillin, insulin, and vitamin B12 and was the third woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
A mathematics genius and computer pioneer, Grace Hopper created computer programming technology that forever changed the flow of information and paved the way for modern data processing.
The first American scientist to discover a comet, and an early advocate for science and math education for girls and the first female astronomy professor.
Her speech was direct, her ideas increasingly radical. “We cannot accept anything as granted,” she wrote in her journal, “beyond the first mathematical formulae. Question everything else.”
A gifted mathematician, Ada Lovelace is considered to have written instructions for the first computer program in the mid-1800s. With accompanying video.
Article from the Scientific American journal.
The Italian researcher faced prejudice and adversity as a woman and as a Jew, but went on to elucidate a growth factor essential to the survival of nerve cells
Merian discovered facts about plants and insects that were not previously known. Her observations helped dispel the popular belief that insects spontaneously emerged from mud. The knowledge she collected over decades didn’t just satisfy those curious about nature, but also provided valuable insights into medicine and science.
In 1938, Lise Meitner discovered that nuclear fission can produce enormous amounts of energy.
She made the discovery in Sweden, after escaping a few months earlier from Nazi Germany.
We used to think the Milky Way was the only galaxy, but with one simple law, Henrietta Swan Leavitt changed that forever – and she didn't even need a telescope.