This document profiles the stories and accomplishments of over 30 notable women in science throughout history. It provides brief biographies of pioneering scientists such as Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize; Caroline Herschel, the first woman to discover a comet; and Mary Leakey, a renowned paleoanthropologist. The women represented diverse scientific fields including astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology and came from various cultural backgrounds. Overall, the document celebrates the contributions of women who overcame barriers to achieve greatness in science.

1. Have You Heard Their Stories?

2. The College of Natural Sciences
Women in Science Initiative

3. Naturalist, scientific
illustrator, and entomologist.
Most known for her
observations and
documentation of the
metamorphosis of the
butterfly. Created the first
classification for insects which
have chrysalises. Spent 8 years
studying and sketching the
animals, insects, and plants of
the Dutch Colony of Surinam.
Referred to as the "woman
who made science beautiful."
Photo Source: Wikipedia

4. French mathematician and
physicist. Challenged the
prevailing Cartesianism in
France by translating
Newton’s Principia. Her 1740s
translation is still considered
to the be the standard French
edition. Her commentary
profoundly contributed to
Newtonian mechanics.
Photo Source: Wikipedia

5. Italian mathematician and
philosopher. First woman to
write a mathematics handbook
and first woman appointed
professor of mathematics at a
university. Credited with
writing the first book to
discuss both differential and
integral calculus. Considered
to be “the first important
woman mathematician since
Hypatia.”
Photo Source: Wikipedia

6. Her most significant contributions
to astronomy were the discoveries of
several comets, including the
periodic comet 35P/Herschel-
Rigollet, and the Catalogue of
Nebulae and Clusters of Stars. First
woman to be paid for her
contribution to science, to be
awarded the Gold Medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society (1828),
and to be named an Honorary
Member of the Royal Astronomical
Society (1835, with Mary
Somerville). Worked with her
brother William Herschel and
nephew John Herschel.
Photo Credit: Wellcome Library, London

7. Widely regarded as “The Greatest
Fossilist the World Ever Knew.”
Made numerous fossil discoveries
on the coast of England, including
the first ichthyosaur skeleton. Her
discoveries contributed to
important changes in the
understanding of prehistoric life
and the history of the Earth.
Photo Source: Wikipedia

8. First woman to earn a degree in
Chemistry (Vassar College, 1870).
First woman to graduate from MIT
(1873) and the first woman
instructor at MIT. Founder of the
home economics movement
characterized by the application of
science to the home, the first to
apply chemistry to the study of
nutrition, and pioneer in sanitary
engineering. One of the "founding
mothers" of the American
Association of University Women
(AAUW).
Photo Source: Wikipedia

9. First major Russian female
mathematician. Responsible
for important original
contributions to analysis,
partial differential equations
and mechanics. The third
woman in Europe to become a
professor and the first to receive
a full professorship.
Photo Source: Wikipedia

10. First female member of the Institute
of Electrical Engineers and first
woman to win the Royal Society's
Hughes Medal (1906) for her
research on the motion of ripples in
sand and water and her work on the
electric arc. In 2010, named one of
the ten women in British history
who have had the most influence on
science.
Photo Source: Jewish Women’s Archive

11. Self-taught botanist who built the
botanical collection of the
California Academy of Sciences.
There are 17 species named for her
as well as 2 genera. Asked to guide
Alfred Russel Wallce up to the
summit of Grays Peak in Colorado.
In 1903 she was one of only two of
the few women listed in American
Men of Science to be denoted, by a
star, as being considered to be
among the top 25% of
professionals in their discipline.
Photo Credit: California Academy of Sciences

12. Mexican-American botanist who
began her career at the age of 55.
Considered to be "the most
accomplished female plant collector
of her time." Known for her
collection of novel specimens from
Mexico and South America. She
discovered a new genus of
Compositae (daisy family).
Photo Credit: California Academy of Sciences

13. The first Canadian woman
nuclear physicist. Most
known for her research on
nuclear transmutations and
radioactivity. The first
graduate student of Ernest
Rutherford; heregarded her
as being on the level of
Marie Curie in her aptitude
for radioactivity work.
Photo Source: Wikipedia

14. An expert in the study of aphids.
Organized the Entomology
Department at the University of
Maine and served as its chair
(1904-1937). First female
president of the Entomological
Society of America.
Photo Credit: University of Maine

15. A pioneer in radiochemistry.
Established the half-life of radium
and helped demonstrate the
existence of isotopes. Second
female professor in Norway,
second woman elected to Oslo's
Academy of Science, and first
woman to receive an honorary
doctorate from the Sorbonne
(1962).
Photo Source: Wikipedia

16. Her conceptual approach to algebra
led to a body of principles unifying
algebra, geometry, linear algebra,
topology, and logic. She has been
described as “the most important
woman in the history of
mathematics.” Known in physics for
Noether's theorem which explains
the connection between symmetry
and conservation laws.
Photo Source: Wikipedia

17. Discovered that the Earth has a
solid inner core inside a molten
outer core by analyzing seismic
wave measurements from
earthquakes. Head of the
department of seismology at the
Geodetical Institute of
Denmark. First woman to be
awarded the William Bowie
Medal by the American
Geophysical Union (1971).
Photo Credit: OI-i.lavin

18. First African-American woman to
receive a PhD in Zoology and first
to research and publish
professionally in zoology. Asked
to join Sigma Xi, the scientific
research society, while a Master’s
student. Recognized in 2005 in a
Congressional Resolution along
with four other African American
women "who have broken
through many barriers to achieve
greatness in science."
Photo Credit: Marine Biological Laboratory Archives

19. Chinese American experimental
physicist who made significant
contributions in the field of nuclear
physics. Worked on the Manhattan
Project. Conducted the Wu
experiment, which contradicted the
hypothetical law of conservation of
parity. Her nicknames include "the
First Lady of Physics," "the Chinese
Madame Curie," and the "Queen of
Nuclear Research."
Photo Credit: Smithsonian Institution Archives

20. Known for her accuracy in
computerized celestial
navigation, she calculated the
trajectory for many NASA
missions, including Project
Mercury, the 1969 Apollo 11
flight to the Moon, Apollo 13,
and the Space Shuttles. First
African American woman to
desegregate the graduate
school at West Virginia
University. Awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
in 2015.Photo Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman

21. First African-American
woman to earn a PhD in
Chemistry in the United
States (Columbia
University, 1947).
Investigated the causes of
heart attacks and the
effects of cigarette
smoking on the lungs.
Professor of biochemistry
and of medicine at the
Albert Einstein College of
Medicine in New York.
Photo Source: BlackThen.com

22. The first Chinese scientist to
win the Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine –
2015 for her discoveries
concerning a novel therapy
against malaria. Chief
Scientist in the China
Academy of Traditional
Chinese Medical Sciences.
Before 2011, her work was
described as "almost
completely forgotten by
people.”
Photo Source: Wikipedia

23. Photo Credit: Chemical Heritage Foundation
President of the American Chemical
Society (1987). Appointed to the
National Science Board of the NSF by
Presidents Carter and Reagan, and
first woman to chair the Board.
Appointed to the President's Council
of Advisors on Science and
Technology (1991). Served as Under
Secretary for Technology for the
Technology Administration in the
Department of Commerce in the
Clinton Administration. Head of the
Engineered Materials Research
division at Signal Research Center,
Inc. First woman to be awarded the
American Chemical Society's
Priestley Medal (1997).

24. Leading member of the team
which developed software for
the Centaur rocket stage, which
laid the technological
foundations for the Space
Shuttle launches and launches
of communication, military,
and weather satellites. One of
the first African-American
employees of the National
Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA), the
forerunner of NASA.
Photo Credit: NASA

25. Discovered that V. cholerae,
the bacterium that causes
cholera, attaches itself to
zooplankton meaning it has a
host in water and can be
transmitted via water rather
than only person-to-person.
She has also shown a link
between global warming and
an increase in water-borne
infectious diseases such as
cholera. Director of the
National Science Foundation
(1998-2004). Awarded the
National Medal of Science
(2005).
Photo Credit: Ryan K. Morris, National Science and Technology
Medals Foundation

26. First Israeli woman to win a
Nobel Prize and the first
woman from the Middle East to
win a Nobel Prize in the
sciences – Chemistry (2009) for
her studies of the structure and
function of the ribosome.
Director of the Helen and
Milton A. Kimmelman Center
for Biomolecular Structure and
Assembly of the Weizmann
Institute of Science.
Photo Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

27. Specialized in the science of
ceramics. Senior vice president
and Chief Science and
Technology Officer of DuPont
(2003-2010). Received the Earle
B. Barnes Award for Leadership
in Chemical Research
Management from the American
Chemical Society (2011).
Member of the National
Committee on Women in
Science and Engineering
sponsored by both the National
Academy of Sciences and the
National Academy of
Engineering
Photo Credit: Chemical Heritage Foundation

28. Current director of the National
Science Foundation. The
youngest person and first woman
to hold the position of NASA
Chief Scientist (1993-1996).
Received the Women in Space
Science Award from the Adler
Planetarium (2012). Her research
has been in the areas of
observational and experimental
astrophysics, multi-spectral
research on x-ray and gamma ray
sources, and space-borne
instrumentation
Photo Credit: Sandy Schaeffer / NSF

29. Chairman & Managing
Director of Biocon Limited, a
biotech company based in
Bangalore, India. Awarded
the Othmer Gold Medal in
2014 for outstanding
contributions to the progress
of science and chemistry.
Ranked 77th on Forbes' 2016
list of the most powerful
women in the world. Master
Brewer.
Photo Credit: Chemical Heritage Foundation

30. Planetary geologist and the
Science Program Manager at
NASA Headquarters. Her
research led to the discovery of the
Chicxulub impact crater and the
Aorounga Crater Chain in Chad.
She has worked on a number of
NASA planetary science projects,
including the Juno mission to
Jupiter, the New Horizons mission
to Pluto, and the OSIRIS-Rex
asteroid sample return mission.
Named of the 50 most important
women in science by Discover
magazine (2002).
Photo Credit: The National Academies Press

31. First Latina in space. First Latina
and second woman to be Director
of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Pioneer of spacecraft technology
with patents on optical systems
for performing information
processing. Classical flutist,
played with the Stanford
Symphony Orchestra while in
graduate school and on the Space
Shuttle.
Photo Credit: NASA

32. Project leader of the Atlas
experiment at the Large
Hadron Collider, one of the
two experiments involved in
the discovery of the Higgs
boson. First woman to be
Director General of CERN.
Ranked 84th on Forbes' 2016 list
of the most powerful women in
the world.
Photo Credit: Atlas Experiment, CERN

33. See the related exhibit in the
Integrated Sciences Building Atrium

34. Women in Science:
The Stories Are All
Around Us
September 2016 — August 2017
Integrated Sciences Building Atrium
An exhibit curated by
The CNS Women in Science Initiative
University of Massachusetts Amherst
http://blogs.umass.edu/womeninscience