10 most famous female scientists of all time

574

Science is, often, considered a male dominated field. This was, upto some extent, a reality in the past. However women of modern era like all other fields, are changing the path of history. They are no more lagging behind male scientists. This article includes 10 most famous and inspiring female scientists who are role model for all women across the globe. Here is the brief introduction of these women scientists.

01

Marie Curie (1867-1934)

French-Polish Physicist

Alma mater: The University of Paris

Famous for:

  • Pioneer in research on radioactivity.
  • First female who won the Nobel Prize.
  • First person and the only female who won Nobel prize two times.
  • First woman professor at the University of Paris.
  • The Theory of Radioactivity.

02

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)

English Chemist

Alma mater: University of Cambridge

Famous for: 

  • Structure of DNA and RNA
  • Structures of viruses, coal and graphite.
  • “Thermal expansion of coals and carbonised coals.” (Publication)

03

Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997)

Chinese-American Physicist

Alma mater: National Central University, China and University of California Berkeley

Famous for:

  • Manhattan Nuclear project where she separated uranium into Uranium-235 and Uranium-238 isotopes.
  • She is known as “First lady of physics” and “Queen of nuclear research.”
  • Beta decay and conservation of parity.

04

Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017)

Iranian-Mathematician

Alma mater: Sharif University of Technology, Tehran (BSc) and Harvard University (PhD)

Famous for:

  • First woman who won “Fields Medal”, the most prestigious award in mathematics.
  • Firs Iranian who was honored with the award “fields medal.”
  • In 2005, she was acknowledged as one of the top 10 young minds by popular “Science” magazine.

05

Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)

Indian-American Astronaut / Engineer

Alma mater: Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh, India and University of Texas

Famous for:

  • First Indian woman in space.
  • One of the seven crew members who died in space shuttle “Columbia” disaster in 2003.

06

Elizabeth Garret Anderson (1836-1917)

British physician and surgeon

Education: She got education privately with physicians in London Hospitals.

Famous for:

  • First woman doctor in great Britian and first dean of British medical school.
  • First woman who was elected mayor of Adelburgh
  • She led a movement for women to be allowed medical profession.

07

Grace Hopper (1906-1992)

American Computer Scientist

Alma mater: Yale University

Famous for:

  • Pioneer in computer programming and development of COBOL, a high level programming language.
  • She served as rear admiral in United States Navy.

08

Vera Rubin (1928-2016)

American Astronomer

Alma mater: Georgetown University

Famous for:

  • Galaxy rotation problem
  • Rubin-Ford effect
  • “Origins: The lives and worlds of modern cosmologists” (Book)

09

Alice Ball (1892-1916)

American Chemist

Alma mater: University of Hawaii

Famous for:

  • Treatment of Leprosy
  • First woman who received master’s degree from the University of Hawaii.
  • First female chemistry professor at University level.

10

Dr. Azra Quraishi (1945-2002)

Pakistani Botanist

Alma mater: University of The Punjab, Lahore (MSc) and University of Paris-sud, France (PhD)

Famous for:

  • Research on tissue culture.
  • Study of organogenesis and callogenesis.
  • She increased potato production in Pakistan upto 5%.

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR