Women’s Contributions to Society

This past week I read a thread on Facebook related to contributions that different countries have made to society. There were some very surprising ones that I had no idea about as well as a small amount of disagreement over which countries those contributions actually belonged to. While that was interesting, I thought to myself, I would really like to know about women’s contributions…you know the ones that have been overlooked by the masses for years. So…of course I decided to do a bit of research and dig out a few that might interest others. In no particular order, these were the ones that most impressed me…

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) an English mathematician and writer was widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer after writing an algorithm for the Analytical Engine. Her work was not was not fully recognized during her lifetime because, duh, the prevailing attitudes towards women in science were legendary in misogyny and she was not allowed to formally study mathematics at university, facing both criticism and distain for her work.
Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350-415) a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt was known for her contributions to mathematics, particularly in the field of algebra. Hypatia was also a skilled astronomer credited with inventing the hydrometer, a tool used to measure the density of liquids. Tragically, she was murdered by a mob opposed to her teachings and influence as a woman in a male-dominated field.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was an astronomer that in a recent social media repost (that’s been around since 2018) credited her for discovering the composition of the universe. Writing a dissertation in 1925 she challenged the prevailing view that the universe was essentially the same composition as earth. However, to be fair, a graduate student by the name of Donald Menzel, came to the same conclusion as Payne and presented it to an esteemed Princeton Astronomer named Henry Norris Russell. At the time Russell rejected Menzel’s conclusions, but then later changed his conclusion after reviewing Payne’s research. Of course the discovery was credited to Russell and other male scientists. Although, big whoop, he did cite her work, confirming her conclusions.
Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) was an African-American mathematician who made significant contributions to the U.S. space program during her career at NASA. Johnson was a brilliant mathematician who performed complex calculations for the early manned space flights, including the first human spaceflight by American astronaut Alan Shepard. Her work was instrumental in ensuring the success of the Apollo moon landing and the safe return of the crew of the Apollo 13 mission. Despite facing discrimination as a woman and as an African American, Johnson persevered and became a respected leader in her field. She was a pioneer for women and minorities in STEM. At least the movie Hidden Figures brought this out in the open…many years too late in my opinion.
Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) was an Austrian-born American actress and inventor who made significant contributions to the field of wireless communications during World War II. She co-invented a frequency-hopping system that would later become the foundation for modern Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS technologies. Many of us know her as the beautiful actress, but not the brilliant scientist…she definitely needs a movie made about her life!
Eunice Foote (1819–1888) was an American scientist now credited with being the first person to theorize and demonstrate the greenhouse effect. In 1857, she published her findings in the American Journal of Science, but was largely overlooked and had to ask a male colleague to present her findings at a scientific conference that she was not allowed to attend. Despite publishing her results three years before Tyndall, he was credited with discovering the greenhouse effect. Thankfully current climate scientists are correcting that past oversight.
Lise Meitner (1878-1968) was a Austrian and Swedish physicist who suggested to her colleagues, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, that they try bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons in order to learn more about uranium decay, leading basically to the discovery of Nuclear Fission. Since Meitner was a Jewish woman in Berlin in 1938, she was forced into exile while Hahn and Strassman took her suggestion. She then partnered with Austrian-born British physicist Otto Frisch, who was also in Sweden at the time, and the duo named and described what Hanh and Strassman uncovered: fission. But of course when the Nobel Prize was awarded to Hahn in 1945, for this discovery, Meitner was never mentioned.
Alice Ball an African American chemist discovered the treatment for leprosy by transforming chaulmoogra oil (something known to help with symptoms) into fatty acids and ethyl esters that would make the medicine injectable. Unfortunately she died from complications as a result of a lab accident and the head of her department, Arthur Dean, continued her work and published Ball’s chemical process under the name “Dean’s method” after himself. Fortunately, one of Ball’s colleagues corrected the oversight by ratting him out and it was changed to Ball’s method.
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was a British Chemist who took the x-ray Photo 51 of the double helix DNA in 1952, but took about a year to interpret the photo. There is some controversy about what really happened, but around the same time, Watson and Crick, also trying to map the structure, came to a similar conclusion — possibly by sneaking a peek at Franklin’s Photo 51. Franklin’s work appeared in the same journal but behind Watson and Crick’s paper, so everyone assumed her work supported their research. Tragically, she died of cancer before the papers were published, so guess who got the credit? I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.

Whew…I know there are tons more, but I didn’t want to write a novel in my weekly blog! Although, I very much enjoy writing genius characters who invent all kinds of cool stuff. You’ll definitely find that in my most recent series as I bring back a favorite character from the women in The Organization and introduce the Next Generation of geniuses. I find intelligent women extremely sexy…don’t you? New out in Audible….The Book Addict with a very sexy genius lead! Computers and chess are her super powers…plus more with a hint of magic!