10 Women In STEM Who Changed the World
In honor of Womens History Month, we want to highlight women who have contributed to the scientific community. These women have given society a much better understanding of what we know today. Take a look at some of these womens achievements in scientific discovery!
Emmanuelle Charpentier (1968 - )
Biochemist
The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemisty was co-awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna "for the development of a method for genome editing." She deciphered the functioning of an enzyme previously known only to experts was a life-changing moment.
Edith Clarke (1883 - 1959)
Electrical Engineer
In 1926, Edith Clarke was the first woman to present a paper before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. This paper was of critical national importance. At the time, transmission lines were getting longer, and with longer lines came greater loads and more chances for system instability.
Martha Coston (1826 - 1904)
Chemist
She finally invented and patented a system of red, white, and green "Pyrotechnic Night Signals" that worked well. The U.S. Navy soon bought the rights to the technology, and during the Civil War, Coston's flares helped to win battles and to save the lives of countless shipwreck victims.
Chieng Shiun-Wu (1912 - 1997)
Physicist
Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process for separating uranium into uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion. She is best known for conducting the Wu experiment, which proved that parity is not conserved.
Sylvia Earle (1935 - )
Marine Biologist | Oceanographer
Sylvia Earle is a marine biologist and oceanographer dedicated to ocean conservation. Sometimes referred to as the "Sturgeon General," Earle is founder of Mission Blue and has been a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence since 1999.
Thelma Estrin (1924 - 2014)
Biomedical Engineer | Computer Scientist
Thelma Estrin helped build Israel's first computer, the WEIZAC, in 1954. Her later research included converting analog electroencephalogram signals to digital signals and mapping the human brain using computers.
Shirley Ann Jackson (1946 - )
Physicists
Her research has been in the area of subatomic particles, including hadrons. In 1999, she became the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and still serves as its president to this day. Additionally, she was awarded The National Medal of Science in 2015.
Beulah Louise Henry (1887 - 1973)
Inventor
In the 1930s, she was given the nickname "Lady Edison" for her many inventions.Her inventions include a bobbin-free sewing machine and a vacuum ice cream freezer. She received 49 patents and had around 110 inventions total.
Henrietta Leavitt (1868 - 1921)
Astronomer
Leavitt discovered more than 2,400 variable stars, about half of the known total in her day. These stars change from bright to dim and back fairly regularly. Leavitt's work with variable stars led to her most important contribution to the field: the cepheid variable period-luminosity relationship.
Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909 - 2012)
Neurobiologist
In 1986 Levi-Montalcini shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine with her colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). The Prize was awarded on the basis of her discovery in 1952 that tumours from mice transpanted into chick embryos induced potent growth of the chick embryo nervous system.