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This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with
natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women from the
social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
s (e.g. sociology, psychology) and the formal sciences (e.g. mathematics, computer science), as well as notable science educators and medical scientists. The chronological events listed in the timeline relate to both scientific achievements and gender equality within the sciences.


Ancient history

* 1900 BCE: Aganice, also known as Athyrta, was an Egyptian princess during the Middle Kingdom (about 2000–1700 BCE) working on astronomy and natural philosophy.Aganice (XX bc)
/ref> *c. 1500 BCE:
Hatshepsut Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...
, also known as the Queen Doctor, promoted a botanical expedition searching for officinal plants. * 1200 BCE: The Mesopotamian perfume-maker Tapputi-Belatekallim was referenced in the text of a
cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
tablet. She is often considered the world's first recorded chemist. *500 BCE:
Theano In Greek mythology, Theano (; Ancient Greek: Θεανώ) may refer to the following personages: *Theano, wife of Metapontus, king of Icaria. Metapontus demanded that she bear him children, or leave the kingdom. She presented the children of Mel ...
was a Pythagorean philosopher. *c. 150 BCE:
Aglaonice Aglaonice or Aganice of Thessaly ( grc, Ἀγλαονίκη, ''Aglaoníkē'', compound of αγλαὸς (''aglaòs'') "luminous" and νίκη (''nikē'') "victory") was a Greek astronomer and thaumaturge of the 2nd or 1st century BC.Pet ...
became the first female astronomer to be recorded in Ancient Greece. *1st century BCE: A woman known only as
Fang A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fa ...
became the earliest recorded Chinese woman
alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim ...
. She is credited with "the discovery of how to turn mercury into silver" – possibly the chemical process of boiling off mercury in order to extract pure silver residue from ores. *1st century CE:
Mary the Jewess Mary or Maria the Jewess ( la, Maria Hebraea), also known as Mary the Prophetess ( la, Maria Prophetissa) or Maria the Copt ( ar, مارية القبطية, Māriyya al-Qibṭiyya), was an early alchemist known from the works of Zosimos of Panop ...
was among the world's first alchemists. *c. 300–350 CE: Greek mathematician
Pandrosion Pandrosion of Alexandria () was a mathematician in fourth-century-AD Alexandria, discussed in the ''Mathematical Collection'' of Pappus of Alexandria and known for developing an approximate method for doubling the cube. Although there is disagreem ...
develops a numerical approximation for cube roots. *c. 355–415 CE: Greek astronomer, mathematician and philosopher
Hypatia Hypatia, Koine pronunciation (born 350–370; died 415 AD) was a neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was a prominent thinker in Alexandria where ...
became renowned as a respected academic teacher, commentator on mathematics, and head of her own science academy. *3rd century CE:
Cleopatra the Alchemist Cleopatra the Alchemist (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα; fl. c. 3rd century AD) was a Greek alchemist, author, and philosopher. She experimented with practical alchemy but is also credited as one of the four female alchemists who could produce the P ...
, an early figure in chemistry and practical alchemy, is credited as inventing the
alembic An alembic (from ar, الإنبيق, al-inbīq, originating from grc, ἄμβιξ, ambix, 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids. Description The complete dis ...
.


Middle Ages

* c. 975 CE: Chinese alchemist
Keng Hsien-Seng Master Geng (, died 975 CE) was a Chinese alchemist. Geng was employed at the Imperial Court. She distilled perfumes, and utilized an early form of the Soxhlet process to extract camphor into alcohol, and gained recognition for her skill in usi ...
was employed by the Royal Court. She distilled perfumes, utilized an early form of the Soxhlet process to extract camphor into alcohol, and gained recognition for her skill in using mercury to extract silver from ores. *10th century:
Al-ʻIjliyyah Al-ʻIjliyyah bint al-ʻIjliyy ( ar, العجلية بنت العجلي ) was a 10th-century maker of astrolabes active in Aleppo, in what is now northern Syria. She is sometimes known in modern popular literature as Mariam al-Asṭurlābiyya ( ar ...
manufactured
astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
s for the court of
Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
in
Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...
. *Early 12th century:
Dobrodeia of Kiev Dobrodeia of Kiev (died 16 November 1131), was a Rus' princess, spouse of the Byzantine co-emperor Alexios Komnenos, and author on medicine. Life Born in Kyiv in the early years of the 12th century, Dobrodeia was the daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev ...
(died 1131), a Rus' princess, was the first woman to write a treatise on medicine. * Early 12th century: The Italian medical practitioner
Trota of Salerno Trota of Salerno (also spelled Trocta) was the world's first gynecologist. She was a medical practitioner and writer in the southern Italian coastal town of Salerno who lived in the early or middle decades of the 12th century. Her fame spread as f ...
compiled medical works on women's ailments and skin diseases. * 12th century: Adelle of the Saracens taught at the Salerno School of Medicine. * 12th century:
Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...
(1098–1179) was a founder of scientific natural history in Germany. * 1159: The Alsatian nun
Herrad of Landsberg Herrad of Landsberg ( la, Herrada Landsbergensis; 1130 – July 25, 1195) was a 12th-century Alsatian nun and abbess of Hohenburg Abbey in the Vosges mountains. She was known as the author of the pictorial encyclopedia '' Hortus deliciarum'' (' ...
(1130–1195) compiled the scientific compendium '' Hortus deliciarum''. * 1220s: Zulema the Astrologist was a Muslim astronomer in Medina Mayurqa. * Early 14th century: Adelmota of Carrara was a physician in
Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, Italy.


16th century

* 1561: Italian alchemist
Isabella Cortese Isabella Cortese (floruit, fl. 1561), was an Italians, Italian alchemy, alchemist and writer of the Renaissance. All that is known of her life and work is from her book on alchemy, ''The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese''. Cortese was also well-ve ...
published her popular book ''The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese''. The work included recipes for medicines, distilled oils and cosmetics, and was the only book published by a female alchemist in the 16th century. *1572: Italian botanist
Loredana Marcello Loredana Marcello (died 12 December 1572) was a Dogaressa of Venice by marriage to the Doge Alvise I Mocenigo (r. 1570-1577). She was an author of letters and poetry and studied botany, and was regarded as a model of an educated and cultivated re ...
died from the
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
– but not before developing several effective
palliative Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
formulas for plague sufferers, which were used by many physicians. *1572: Danish scientist Sophia Brahe (1556–1643) assisted her brother
Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...
with his astronomical observations. *1590: After her husband's death,
Caterina Vitale Caterina Vitale (1566–1619) was the first female pharmacist and chemist in Malta, and the first female pharmacist of the Knights Hospitaller. Caterina Vitale was originally from Greece. She married Ettore Vitale, pharmacist of the Knights Ho ...
took over his position as chief pharmacist to the Order of St John, becoming the first woman chemist and pharmacist in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
.


17th century

* 1609: French midwife
Louise Bourgeois Boursier Louise (Bourgeois) Boursier (1563–1636) was a French Royal Court Midwifery, midwife who delivered babies for many women in her twenty-six year professional career. Marie de Médicis, the wife of King Henry IV of France, Henry the Great of Fra ...
became the first woman to write a book on childbirth practices. * 1636:
Anna Maria van Schurman Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, and scholar, who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of female education. She was a highly educated woman, who excelled in ...
is the first woman ever to attend university lectures. She had to sit behind a screen so that her male fellow students would not see her. * 1642: Martine Bertereau, the first recorded woman
mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...
, was imprisoned in France on suspicion of witchcraft. Bertereau had published two written works on the science of mining and
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
before being arrested. *1650: Silesian astronomer
Maria Cunitz Maria Cunitz or Maria CunitiaCunitz, Maria. "Urania propitia, sive Tabulæ Astronomicæ mirè faciles, vim hypothesium physicarum à Kepplero proditarum complexae; facillimo calculandi compendio, sine ullâ logarithmorum mentione paenomenis sati ...
published '' Urania Propitia'', a work that both simplified and substantially improved
Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...
's mathematical methods for locating planets. The book was published in both Latin ''and'' German, an unconventional decision that made the scientific text more accessible for non-university educated readers. *1656: French chemist and alchemist Marie Meurdrac published her book ''La Chymie Charitable et Facile, en Faveur des Dames'' (Useful and Easy Chemistry, for the Benefit of Ladies). *1667:
Margaret Lucas Cavendish Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623 – 15 December 1673) was an English philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer and playwright. Her husband, William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was Royalist co ...
, Duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne (1623 – 15 December 1673) was an English aristocrat, philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction-writer, and playwright during the 17th century. She was the first woman to attend a meeting at the
Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
, in 1667, and she criticised and engaged with members and philosophers
Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book '' Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
,
René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...
, and
Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders ...
. *1668: After separating from her husband, French polymath Marguerite de la Sablière established a popular
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...
in Paris. Scientists and scholars from different countries visited the salon regularly to discuss ideas and share knowledge, and Sablière studied physics, astronomy and natural history with her guests. *1680: French astronomer Jeanne Dumée published a summary of arguments supporting the Copernican theory of heliocentrism. She wrote "between the brain of a woman and that of a man there is no difference". *1685: Frisian poet and archaeologist Titia Brongersma supervised the first excavation of a
dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were some ...
in
Borger, Netherlands Borger () is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Borger-Odoorn, and lies about 18 km east of Assen. The ''hunebed'' dolmen is the biggest ''hunebed'' of the Netherlands and has its own museum. ...
. The excavation produced new evidence that the stone structures were graves constructed by prehistoric humans – rather than structures built by
giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s, which had been the prior common belief. *1690: German-Polish astronomer Elisabetha Koopman Hevelius, widow of
Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish: * * * * * * * Some sources refer to Hevelius as German: * * * * *of the Royal Society * (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...
, whom she had assisted with his observations (and, probably, computations) for over twenty years, published in his name ''Prodromus Astronomiae'', the largest and most accurate star catalog to that date. *1693–1698: German astronomer and illustrator
Maria Clara Eimmart Maria Clara Eimmart (27 May 1676 – 29 October 1707), was a German astronomer, engraver and designer. She was the daughter and assistant of Georg Christoph Eimmart the Younger. Biography Maria Clara Eimmart was a German astronomer born in N ...
created more than 350 detailed drawings of the moon phases. *1699: German entomologist
Maria Sibylla Merian Maria Sibylla Merian (2 April 164713 January 1717) was a German naturalist and scientific illustrator. She was one of the earliest European naturalists to observe insects directly. Merian was a descendant of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss M ...
, the first scientist to document the life cycle of insects for the public, embarked on a scientific expedition to
Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...
, South America. She subsequently published ''Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium'', a groundbreaking illustrated work on South American plants, animals and insects.


18th century

* 1702: Pioneering English entomologist
Eleanor Glanville Eleanor Glanville (born Goodricke; first married name Ashfield; 1654–1709) was an English entomologist and naturalist, specializing in the study of butterflies and moths. She inherited family properties across Somersetshire and married t ...
captured a butterfly specimen in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, which was subsequently named the
Glanville fritillary The Glanville fritillary (''Melitaea cinxia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is named for the naturalist who discovered it and the checkerboard pattern on its wings. These butterflies live in almost all of Europe, especially Finla ...
in her honour. Her extensive butterfly collection impressed fellow entomologist William Vernon, who called Glanville's work "the noblest collection of butterflies, all English, which has sham'd us". Her butterfly specimens became part of early collections in the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
. *1702: German astronomer Maria Kirch became the first woman to discover a comet. *c. 1702–1744: In
Montreal, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
, French botanist Catherine Jérémie collected plant specimens and studied their properties, sending the specimens and her detailed notes back to scientists in France. *1732: At the age of 20, Italian physicist Laura Bassi became the first female member of the Bologna Academy of Sciences. One month later, she publicly defended her academic theses and received a PhD. Bassi was awarded an honorary position as professor of physics at the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...
. She was the first female physics professor in the world. *1738: French polymath
Émilie du Châtelet Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (; 17 December 1706 – 10 September 1749) was a French natural philosopher and mathematician from the early 1730s until her death due to complications during childbirth in 1749. ...
became the first woman to have a paper published by the Paris Academy, following a contest on the nature of fire. *1740: French polymath
Émilie du Châtelet Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (; 17 December 1706 – 10 September 1749) was a French natural philosopher and mathematician from the early 1730s until her death due to complications during childbirth in 1749. ...
published ''Institutions de Physique'' (''Foundations of Physics'') providing a metaphysical basis for
Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classical mec ...
. *1748: Swedish
agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...
Eva Ekeblad Eva Ekeblad (née De la Gardie; 10 July 1724 – 15 May 1786) was a Swedish countess, salon hostess, agronomist, and scientist. She was widely known for discovering a method in 1746 to make alcohol and flour from potatoes, allowing greater us ...
became the first woman member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...
. Two years earlier, she had developed a new process of using potatoes to make flour and alcohol, which subsequently lessened Sweden's reliance on wheat crops and decreased the risk of famine. *1751: 19-year-old Italian physicist
Cristina Roccati Cristina Roccati (24 October 1732 in Rovigo – 16 March 1797 in Rovigo) was an Italian physicist and poet who earned a degree at the University of Bologna (1751). This was the third academic qualification ever bestowed on a woman by an Italian un ...
received her PhD from the University of Bologna. *1753:
Jane Colden Jane Colden (March 27, 1724 – March 10, 1766) was an American botanist,Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435 described as the "first botanist of her sex in her country" b ...
, an American, was the only female biologist mentioned by
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in his masterwork ''
Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...
''. *1755: After the death of her husband, Italian anatomist
Anna Morandi Manzolini Anna Morandi Manzolini (21 January 1714 – 9 July 1774) was an internationally known anatomist and anatomical wax modeler, as lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna. Life Morandi was born in 1714 in Bologna, Italy. She wa ...
took his place at the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...
, becoming a professor of
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...
and establishing an internationally known laboratory for anatomical research. *1757: French astronomer
Nicole-Reine Lepaute Nicole-Reine Lepaute () née Étable de la Brière, also erroneously known as Hortense Lepaute, (5 January 1723 – 6 December 1788) was a French astronomer and human computer. Lepaute along with Alexis Clairaut and Jérôme Lalande calculated t ...
worked with mathematicians
Alexis Clairaut Alexis Claude Clairaut (; 13 May 1713 – 17 May 1765) was a French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist. He was a prominent Newtonian whose work helped to establish the validity of the principles and results that Sir Isaac Newton had ou ...
and Joseph Lalande to calculate the next arrival of
Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...
. *1760: American horticulturalist
Martha Daniell Logan Martha Daniell Logan (29 December 1704 - 28 June 1779) was an early American botanist who was instrumental in seed exchanges between Britain and the North American colonies. She wrote an influential gardening advice column and was a major collect ...
began corresponding with botanic specialist and collector
John Bartram John Bartram (March 23, 1699 – September 22, 1777) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and explorer, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for most of his career. Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus said he was the "greatest na ...
, regularly exchanging seeds, plants and botanical knowledge with him. *1762: French astronomer
Nicole-Reine Lepaute Nicole-Reine Lepaute () née Étable de la Brière, also erroneously known as Hortense Lepaute, (5 January 1723 – 6 December 1788) was a French astronomer and human computer. Lepaute along with Alexis Clairaut and Jérôme Lalande calculated t ...
calculated the time and percentage of a solar eclipse that had been predicted to occur in two years time. She created a map to show the phases, and published a table of her calculations in the 1763 edition of ''
Connaissance des Temps The ''Connaissance des temps'' (English: Knowledge of the Times) is an official yearly publication of astronomical ephemerides in France. Until just after the French Revolution, the title appeared as ''Connoissance des temps'', and for several ye ...
''. *1766: French chemist Geneviève Thiroux d'Arconville published her study on
putrefaction Putrefaction is the fifth stage of death, following pallor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis, and livor mortis. This process references the breaking down of a body of an animal, such as a human, post-mortem. In broad terms, it can be view ...
. The book presented her observations from more than 300 experiments over the span of five years, during which she attempted to discover factors necessary for the preservation of beef, eggs, and other foods. Her work was recommended for
royal privilege A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
by fellow chemist
Pierre-Joseph Macquer Pierre-Joseph Macquer (9 October 1718 – 15 February 1784) was an influential French chemist. He is known for his ''Dictionnaire de chymie'' (1766). He was also involved in practical applications, to medicine and industry, such as the French dev ...
. *c. 1775: Herbalist/botanist
Jeanne Baret Jeanne Baret (; 27 July 1740 – 5 August 1807) was a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships '' La Boudeuse'' and '' Étoile'' in 1766–1769. Baret is recognized as the first woman to have completed a voyage of c ...
becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. *1776: At the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...
, Italian physicist Laura Bassi became the first woman appointed as chair of physics at a university. *1776:
Christine Kirch Christine Kirch (1696 in Guben, Germany – 6 May 1782), was a German astronomer. Life She was the daughter of the astronomers Gottfried Kirch and Maria Margarethe Kirch and the sister of Christfried Kirch. She and her sister Margaretha Kirch we ...
received a respectable salary of 400 Thaler for calendar-making. See also her sister Margaretha Kirch *1782–1791: French chemist and mineralogist
Claudine Picardet Claudine Picardet (born Poullet, later Guyton de Morveau) (7 August 1735 – 4 October 1820) was a chemist, mineralogist, meteorologist and scientific translator. Among the French chemists of the late eighteenth century she stands out for he ...
translated more than 800 pages of Swedish, German, English and Italian scientific papers into French, enabling French scientists to better discuss and utilize international research in chemistry, mineralogy and astronomy. *c. 1787–1797: Self-taught Chinese astronomer
Wang Zhenyi Wang Zhenyi (; born November 30, 1924), also known as Zhen-yi Wang, is a Chinese pathophysiologist and hematologist who is a professor emeritus of Medicine and Pathophysiology at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). He is most well known f ...
published at least twelve books and multiple articles on astronomy and mathematics. Using a lamp, a mirror and a table, she once created a famous scientific exhibit designed to accurately simulate a lunar eclipse. *1786–1797: German astronomer
Caroline Herschel Caroline Lucretia Herschel (; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German born British astronomer, whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigolle ...
discovered eight new comets, along with numerous other discoveries. *1789: French astronomer
Louise du Pierry Louise du Pierry or Dupiery, née ''Elisabeth Louise Felicité Pourra de la Madeleine'' (30 July 1746 – 27 February 1807), was a French astronomer and professor. Life She was born in La Ferté-Bernard, in the French province of Maine, on 1 Augu ...
, the first Parisian woman to become an astronomy professor, taught the first astronomy courses specifically open to female students. *1794: British chemist
Elizabeth Fulhame Elizabeth Fulhame (fl. 1794) was an early British chemist who invented the concept of catalysis and discovered photoreduction. She describes catalysis as a process at length in her 1794 book ''An Essay On Combustion with a View to a New Art of ...
invented the concept of
catalysis Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
and published a book on her findings. *c. 1796–1820: During the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor, astronomer Huang Lü became the first Chinese woman to work with optics and photographic images. She developed a telescope that could take simple photographic images using photosensitive paper. *1797: English science writer and schoolmistress Margaret Bryan published ''A Compendious System of Astronomy'', including an engraving of herself and her two daughters. She dedicated the book to her students.


Early 19th century

*1808: Anna Sundström began assisting
Jacob Berzelius Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...
in his laboratory, becoming one of the first Swedish women chemists. *1809: Sabina Baldoncelli earned her university degree in pharmacy but was allowed to work only in the Italian orphanage where she resided. *1815: English archaeologist
Lady Hester Stanhope Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (12 March 1776 – 23 June 1839) was a British aristocrat, adventurer, antiquarian, and one of the most famous travellers of her age. Her archaeological excavation of Ashkelon in 1815 is considered the first t ...
used a medieval Italian manuscript to locate a promising archaeological site in
Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...
, becoming the first archaeologist to begin an excavation in the Palestinian region. It was one of the earliest examples of the use of textual sources in field archaeology. *1816: French mathematician and physicist
Sophie Germain Marie-Sophie Germain (; 1 April 1776 – 27 June 1831) was a French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. Despite initial opposition from her parents and difficulties presented by society, she gained education from books in her father's lib ...
became the first woman to win a prize from the
Paris Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at t ...
for her work on elasticity theory. *1823: English palaeontologist and fossil collector
Mary Anning Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel ...
discovered the first complete ''
Plesiosaurus ''Plesiosaurus'' (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), lizard) is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. It is distinguishable b ...
''. *1831: Italian botanist
Elisabetta Fiorini Mazzanti Elisabetta Fiorini Mazzanti (3 June 1799 – 23 April 1879), was an Italian botanist and writer. She was known for her work in bryology and algae. In scientific literature, she is referred to by the abbreviation Fior.-Mazz. Early years Elisabe ...
published her best-known work ''Specimen Bryologiae Romanae.'' *1830–1837: Belgian botanist
Marie-Anne Libert Marie-Anne Libert, (born 7 April 1782 in Malmedy, province of Liège, died 14 January 1865 in Malmedy) was a Belgian botanist and mycologist. She was one of the first women plant pathologists. She is sometimes referred to as "Anne-Marie Libert." ...
published her four-volume ''Plantae cryptogamicae des Ardennes'', a collection of 400 species of mosses, ferns, lichen, algae and fungi from the
Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
region. Her contributions to systemic
cryptogam A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...
ic studies were formally recognized by Prussian emperor
Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...
, and Libert received a gold medal of merit. *1832: French marine biologist
Jeanne Villepreux-Power Jeanne Villepreux-Power, born Jeanne Villepreux (24 September 1794 - 25 January 1871), was a pioneering French marine biologist who in 1832 was the first person to create aquaria for experimenting with aquatic organisms. The English biologist ...
invented the first glass
aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
, using it to assist in her scientific observations of ''
Argonauta argo ''Argonauta argo'', also known as the greater argonaut, is a species of pelagic octopus belonging to the genus '' Argonauta''. The Chinese name for this species translates as "white sea-horse's nest". ''A. argo'' was the first argonaut specie ...
''. *1833: English
phycologists Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a ...
Amelia Griffiths Amelia Griffiths (1768–1858), often referred to in contemporary works as Mrs Griffiths of Torquay, was a beachcomber and amateur phycologist who made many important collections of marine algae specimens. Personal life Amelia Warren Rogers wa ...
and
Mary Wyatt Mary Wyatt (1789–1871) was a British botanist, phycologist and retailer from Torquay, Devon. She was the compiler of the respected ''Algae Danmoniensis'' - a collection, i.e. exsiccata, of seaweeds to which William Henry Harvey later considere ...
published two books on local British seaweeds. Griffiths had an internationally respected reputation as a skilled seaweed collector and scholar, and Swedish botanist Carl Agardh had earlier named the seaweed genus '' Griffithsia'' in her honour. *1833
Orra White Hitchcock Orra White Hitchcock (March 8, 1796 – May 26, 1863) was one of America's earliest women botanical and scientific illustrators and artists, best known for illustrating the scientific works of her husband, geologist Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864 ...
(March 8, 1796 – May 26, 1863) was one of America's earliest women botanical and scientific illustrators and artists, best known for illustrating the scientific works of her husband, geologist
Edward Hitchcock Edward Hitchcock (May 24, 1793 – February 27, 1864) was an American geologist and the third President of Amherst College (1845–1854). Life Born to poor parents, he attended newly founded Deerfield Academy, where he was later principal, ...
(1793–1864), but also notable for her own artistic and scientific work. The most well known appear in her husband's seminal works, the 1833 ''Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts'' and its successor, the 1841 ''Final Report'' produced when he was State Geologist. For the 1833 edition,
Pendleton's Lithography Pendleton's Lithography (1825–1836) was a lithographic print studio in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, established by brothers William S. Pendleton (1795-1879) and John B. Pendleton (1798-1866). Though relatively short-lived, in its time ...
(Boston)
lithographed Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German au ...
nine of Hitchcock's
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...
Valley drawings and printed them as plates for the work. In 1841, B. W. Thayer and Co., Lithographers (Boston) printed revised lithographs and an additional plate. The hand-colored plate "Autumnal Scenery. View in Amherst" is Hitchcock's most frequently seen work. *1835: Scottish polymath
Mary Somerville Mary Somerville (; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary ...
and German astronomer
Caroline Herschel Caroline Lucretia Herschel (; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German born British astronomer, whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigolle ...
were elected the first female members of the
Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...
. *1836: Early English geologist and
paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
Etheldred Benett, known for her extensive collection of several thousand fossils, was appointed a member of the Imperial Natural History Society of Moscow. The society – which only admitted men at the time – initially mistook Benett for a man due to her reputation as a scientist and her unusual first name, addressing her diploma of admission to "Dominum" (Master) Benett. *1840: Scottish fossil collector and illustrator
Lady Eliza Maria Gordon-Cumming Eliza Maria, Lady Gordon-Cumming ( Campbell; 1795 - 21 April 1842) was a Scottish aristocrat, horticulturalist, palaeontologist and scientific illustrator. Lady Cumming collected and studied Devonian fish fossils from the Old Red Sandstone of ...
invited geologists
Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
,
William Buckland William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...
and
Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and ...
to examine her collection of fish fossils. Agassiz confirmed several of Gordon-Cumming's discoveries as new species. *1843: During a nine-month period in 1842–43, English mathematician
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the An ...
translated
Luigi Menabrea Luigi Federico Menabrea (4 September 1809 – 24 May 1896), later made 1st Count Menabrea and 1st Marquess of Valdora, was an Italian general, statesman and mathematician who served as the seventh prime minister of Italy from 1867 to 1869. B ...
's article on
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...
's newest proposed machine, the Analytical Engine. With the article, she appended a set of notes. Her notes were labelled alphabetically from A to G. In note G, she describes an algorithm for the Analytical Engine to compute Bernoulli numbers. It is considered the first published algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer, and Ada Lovelace has often been cited as the first computer programmer for this reason. The engine was never completed, so her program was never tested. *1843: British botanist and pioneering photographer
Anna Atkins Anna Atkins (née Children; 16 March 1799 – 9 June 1871) was an English botanist and photographer. She is often considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Some sources say that she was the first woma ...
self-published her book ''Photographs of British Algae'', illustrating the work with
cyanotype The cyanotype (from Ancient Greek κυάνεος - ''kuáneos'', “dark blue” + τύπος - ''túpos'', “mark, impression, type”) is a slow-reacting, economical photographic printing formulation sensitive to a limited near ultraviolet ...
s. Her book was the first book on any subject to be illustrated by photographs. *1846: British zoologist
Anna Thynne Anna Constantia Thynne, Lady John Thynne (née Beresford; 1806–1866) was a British marine zoologist.Stott, Rebecca, ''Theatres of Glass: The woman who brought the sea to the city'', Short Books, 2003. In 1846, she built the first stable and su ...
built the first stable, self-sustaining marine aquarium. * 1848: American astronomer
Maria Mitchell Maria Mitchell (Help:IPA/English, /məˈraɪə/; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later kno ...
became the first woman elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
; she had discovered a new comet the year before. *1848–1849: English scientist
Mary Anne Whitby Mary Anne Theresa Whitby (née Symonds; 1783–1850) was an English writer, landowner, and artist. She became an authority on the cultivation of silkworms, and in the 1830s reintroduced sericulture to the United Kingdom. During the 1840s, she ...
, a pioneer in western silkworm cultivation, collaborated with Charles Darwin in researching the hereditary qualities of silkworms. *1850: The
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
s accepted its first women members: astronomer
Maria Mitchell Maria Mitchell (Help:IPA/English, /məˈraɪə/; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later kno ...
, entomologist
Margaretta Morris Margaretta Hare Morris (3 December 1797 – 29 May 1867) was an American entomologist. Morris and the astronomer Maria Mitchell were the first women elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1850. She was also the sec ...
, and science educator
Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps (July 15, 1793 – July 15, 1884) was an American scientist, educator, author, and editor. Her botany writings influenced more early American women to be botanists, including Eunice Newton Foote and her daughter, ...
.


Late 19th century

* 1854: Mary Horner Lyell was a
conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It incl ...
and
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
. She is most well known for her scientific work in 1854, where she studied her collection of land snails from the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...
. She was married to the notable British geologist
Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
and assisted him in his scientific work. It is believed by historians that she likely made major contributions to her husband's work. * 1854–1855:
Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...
organized care for wounded soldiers during the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
. She was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. Her pie charts clearly showed that most deaths resulted from disease rather than battle wounds or "other causes," which led the general public to demand improved sanitation at field hospitals. * 1855: Working with her father, Welsh astronomer and photographer
Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn (1834 – 21 February 1926) was a Welsh astronomer and pioneer in scientific photography. Biography The eldest of six children, Llewelyn was born to photographer and botanist John Dillwyn Llewelyn and Emma Thomasina T ...
produced some of the earliest photographs of the moon. *1856: American atmospheric scientist Eunice Newton Foote presented her paper "Circumstances affecting the heat of the sun's rays" at an annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
s. She was an early researcher of the
greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...
. *1862: Belgian botanist
Marie-Anne Libert Marie-Anne Libert, (born 7 April 1782 in Malmedy, province of Liège, died 14 January 1865 in Malmedy) was a Belgian botanist and mycologist. She was one of the first women plant pathologists. She is sometimes referred to as "Anne-Marie Libert." ...
became the first woman to join the Royal Botanical Society of Belgium. She was named an honorary member. *1863: German naturalist Amalie Dietrich arrived in Australia to collect plant, animal and anthropological specimens for the German Godeffroy Museum. She remained in Australia for the next decade, discovering a number of new plant and animal species in the process, but also became notorious in later years for her removal of Aboriginal skeletons – and the possible incitement of violence against Aboriginal people – for anthropological research purposes. *1865: English geologist
Elizabeth Carne Elizabeth Catherine Thomas Carne (1817–1873) was a British author, natural philosopher, geologist, conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malaco ...
was elected the first female Fellow of the
Royal Geological Society of Cornwall The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world ...
.


1870s

*1869/1870: American beekeeper Ellen Smith Tupper became the first female editor of an entomological journal. * 1870: Katharine Murray Lyell was a British botanist, author of an early book on the worldwide distribution of ferns, and editor of volumes of the correspondence of several of the era's notable scientists. * 1870:
Ellen Swallow Richards Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911) was an American industrial and safety engineer, environmental chemist, and university faculty member in the United States during the 19th century. Her pioneering work i ...
became the first American woman to earn a degree in chemistry. *1870: Russian chemist Anna Volkova became the first woman member of the Russian Chemical Society. *1874: Julia Lermontova became the first Russian woman to receive a PhD in chemistry. *1875: Hungarian archaeologist
Zsófia Torma Zsófia Torma (26 September 1832 – 14 November 1899) was a Hungarian archaeologist, anthropologist and paleontologist. Life and work Torma was born in Csicsókeresztúr, Beszterce-Naszód County, Austria-Hungary (today Cristeștii Ciceulu ...
excavated the site of Turdaș-Luncă in
Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian, it is known as , in German as , and in Slovak a ...
, today in
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. The site, which uncovered valuable prehistoric artifacts, became one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Europe. *1876–1878: American naturalist Mary Treat studied insectivorous plants in Florida. Her contributions to the scientific understanding of how these plants caught and digested prey were acknowledged by
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
and
Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...
. *1878: English entomologist
Eleanor Anne Ormerod Eleanor Anne Ormerod (11 May 182819 July 1901) was a pioneer English entomologist. Based on her studies in agriculture, she became one of the first to define the field of agricultural entomology. She published an influential series of articles on ...
became the first female Fellow of the
Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...
. A few years afterwards, she was appointed as Consulting Entomologist to the Royal Agricultural Society.


1880s

* 1880: Self-taught German chemist
Agnes Pockels Agnes Luise Wilhelmine Pockels (14 February 1862 – 21 November 1935) was a German chemist whose research was fundamental in establishing the modern discipline known as surface science, which describes the properties of liquid and solid surfa ...
began investigating
surface tension Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. water striders) t ...
, becoming a pioneering figure in the field of
surface science Surface science is the study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, including solid– liquid interfaces, solid– gas interfaces, solid–vacuum interfaces, and liquid– gas interfaces. It includes th ...
. The measurement equipment she developed provided the basic foundation for modern quantitative analyses of surface films. *1883: American ethnologist Erminnie A. Smith, the first woman field
ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
, published her collection of
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
legends ''Myths of the Iroquois''. *1884: English zoologist Alice Johnson's paper on newt embryos became the first paper authored by a woman to appear in the ''
Proceedings of the Royal Society ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...
''. *1885: British naturalist
Marian Farquharson Marian Sarah Ogilvie Farquharson, FLS, FRMS (née Ridley, 2 July 1846 – 20 April 1912) was a British naturalist and women's rights activist. The first female Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (although not permitted to attend meetin ...
became the first female Fellow of the
Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained its ...
. *1886: Botanist Emily Lovira Gregory became the first woman member of the
American Society of Naturalists The American Society of Naturalists was founded in 1883 and is one of the oldest professional societies dedicated to the biological sciences in North America. The purpose of the Society is "to advance and diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and o ...
. *1887:
Rachel Lloyd Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd (born 1975) is a British anti-trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking ...
became the first American woman to receive a PhD in chemistry, completing her research at the Swiss
University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
. *1888: Russian scientist
Sofia Kovalevskaya Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (russian: link=no, Софья Васильевна Ковалевская), born Korvin-Krukovskaya ( – 10 February 1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differen ...
discovered the
Kovalevskaya top In classical mechanics, the precession of a rigid body such as a spinning top under the influence of gravity is not, in general, an integrable problem. There are however three (or four) famous cases that are integrable, the Euler, the Lagrange, ...
, one of a brief list of known
rigid body motion In physics, a rigid body (also known as a rigid object) is a solid body in which deformation is zero or so small it can be neglected. The distance between any two given points on a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external fo ...
examples that are tractable by manipulating equations by hand. *1888: American chemist
Josephine Silone Yates Josephine Silone Yates (1852 or November 15, 1859 – September 3, 1912) was an American professor, writer, public speaker, and activist. She trained in chemistry and became one of the first black professors hired at Lincoln University in J ...
was appointed head of the Department of Natural Sciences at Lincoln Institute (later Lincoln University), becoming the first black woman to head a college science department. * 1889: Geologist Mary Emilie Holmes became the first female Fellow of the
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
.


1890s

*1890: Austrian-born chemist
Ida Freund Ida Freund (15 April 1863 – 15 May 1914) was the first woman to be a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She is known for her influence on science teaching, particularly the teaching of women and girls. She wrote two key chem ...
became the first woman to work as a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She was promoted to full lecturer at
Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...
. *1890: Popular science educator and author
Agnes Giberne Agnes Giberne (19 November 1845 – 20 August 1939) was a prolific British novelist and scientific writer. Her fiction was typical of Victorian evangelical fiction with moral or religious themes for children. She also wrote books on science f ...
co-founded the
British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...
. Subsequently, English astronomer Elizabeth Brown was appointed the Director of the association's Solar Section, well known for her studies in
sunspot Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. S ...
s and other solar phenomena. *1890: Mathematician
Philippa Fawcett Philippa Garrett Fawcett (4 April 1868 – 10 June 1948) was an English mathematician and educationalist. She was the first woman to obtain the top score in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos exams. She taught at Newnham College, Cambridge, and ...
became the first woman to obtain the highest score in the
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...
examinations, a score "above the
Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who a ...
". (At the time, women were ineligible to be named Senior Wrangler.) *1891: American-born astronomer
Dorothea Klumpke Dorothea Klumpke Roberts (August 9, 1861 in San Francisco – October 5, 1942 in San Francisco) was an American astronomer. She was Director of the Bureau of Measurements at the Paris Observatory and was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honn ...
was appointed as Head of the Bureau of Measurements at the
Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histo ...
. For the next decade, in addition to completing her
doctorate of science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
, she worked on the
Carte du Ciel The Carte du Ciel (literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue an ...
mapping project. She was recognized for her work with the first Prix de Dames award from the
Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law ( Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its purpose ...
and named an Officier of the
Paris Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at t ...
. *1892: American psychologist
Christine Ladd-Franklin Christine Ladd-Franklin (December 1, 1847 – March 5, 1930) was an American psychologist, logician, and mathematician. Early life and education Christine Ladd, sometimes known by her nickname "Kitty", was born on December 1, 1847, in Winds ...
presented her evolutionary theory on the development of
colour vision Color vision, a feature of visual perception, is an ability to perceive differences between light composed of different wavelengths (i.e., different spectral power distributions) independently of light intensity. Color perception is a part of ...
to the International Congress of Psychology. Her theory was the first to emphasize colour vision as an evolutionary trait. * 1893:
Florence Bascom Florence Bascom (July 14, 1862 – June 18, 1945) was an American pioneer for women as a geologist and educator. Bascom became an anomaly in the 19th century when she earned two bachelor's degrees. Earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1882, and a Bachelo ...
became the second woman to earn her PhD in geology in the United States, and the first woman to receive a PhD from
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
. Geologists consider her to be the "first woman geologist in this country (America)". *1893: American botanist
Elizabeth Gertrude Britton Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (née Knight) (January 9, 1858 – February 25, 1934) was an American botanist, bryologist, and educator. She and her husband, Nathaniel Lord Britton played a significant role in the fundraising and creation of the New ...
became a charter member of the
Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soc ...
. *1894: American astronomer
Margaretta Palmer Margaretta Palmer (1862–1924) was an American astronomer, one of the first women to earn a doctorate in astronomy. She worked at the Yale University Observatory at a time when woman were frequently hired as assistant astronomers, but when most of ...
becomes the first woman to earn a doctorate in astronomy. *1895: English physiologist Marion Bidder became the first woman to speak and present her own paper at a meeting of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. * 1896: Florence Bascom became the first woman to work for the
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
. *1896: English mycologist and lichenologist
Annie Lorrain Smith Annie Lorrain Smith (23 October 1854 – 7 September 1937) was a British lichenologist whose ''Lichens'' (1921) was an essential textbook for several decades. She was also a mycologist and founder member of the British Mycological Society, wh ...
became a founding member of the
British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...
. She later served as president twice. *1897: American cytologists and zoologists Katharine Foot and Ella Church Strobell started working as research partners. Together, they pioneered the practice of photographing microscopic research samples and invented a new technique for creating thin material samples in colder temperatures. *1897: American physicist
Isabelle Stone Isabelle Stone (October 18, 1868 – 1966) was an American physicist and educator. She was one of the founders of the American Physical Society. She was among the first women to be awarded a PhD in physics in the United States. Early life ...
became the first woman to receive a PhD in physics in the United States. She wrote her dissertation "On the Electrical Resistance of Thin Films" at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. *1898: Danish physicist
Kirstine Meyer Kirstine Bjerrum Meyer (12 October 1861 – 28 September 1941) was a Danish physicist and was first woman from her country to earn a doctorate in natural sciences. Biography Kirstine Bjerrum was born in Skærbæk, Denmark and died in Hellerup. ...
was awarded the gold medal of the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...
. *1898: Italian
malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...
Marianna Paulucci Marquise Marianna Panciatichi Ximenes d’Aragona Paulucci (3 February 1835 – 7 December 1919) was an Italian malacologist who also made contributions to botany and ornithology. A specialist in non-marine molluscs, she published 32 malacologica ...
donated her collection of specimens to the Royal Museum of Natural History in Florence, Italy (
Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze The Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze is a natural history museum in 6 major collections, located in Florence, Italy. It is part of the University of Florence. Museum collections are open mornings except Wednesday, and all day Saturday; an adm ...
). Paulucci was the first scientist to compile and publish a species list of Italian malacofauna. *1899: American physicists Marcia Keith and
Isabelle Stone Isabelle Stone (October 18, 1868 – 1966) was an American physicist and educator. She was one of the founders of the American Physical Society. She was among the first women to be awarded a PhD in physics in the United States. Early life ...
became charter members of the
American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
. *1899: Irish physicist
Edith Anne Stoney Edith Anne Stoney (6 January 1869 – 25 June 1938) was a physicist born in Dublin in an old-established Anglo-Irish scientific family. She is considered to be the first woman medical physicist. Early life and family Edith Stoney was born a ...
was appointed a physics lecturer at the
London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...
, becoming the first woman
medical physicist A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical physi ...
. She later became a pioneering figure in the use of X-ray machines on the front lines of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.


Early 20th century


1900s

*1900: American botanist
Anna Murray Vail Anna Murray Vail (January 7, 1863 – December 18, 1955) was an American botanist and first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden. She was a student of the Columbia University botanist and geologist Nathaniel Lord Britton, with whom she he ...
became the first librarian of the
New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...
. A key supporter of the institution's establishment, she had earlier donated her entire collection of 3000 botanical specimens to the garden. *1900: Physicists
Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the fir ...
and
Isabelle Stone Isabelle Stone (October 18, 1868 – 1966) was an American physicist and educator. She was one of the founders of the American Physical Society. She was among the first women to be awarded a PhD in physics in the United States. Early life ...
attended the first International Congress of Physics in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, France. They were the only two women out of 836 participants. *1901: American Florence Bascom became the first female geologist to present a paper before the Geological Survey of Washington. *1901: Czech botanist and zoologist Marie Zdeňka Baborová-Čiháková became the first woman in the Czech Republic to receive a PhD. * 1901: American astronomer
Annie Jump Cannon Annie Jump Cannon (; December 11, 1863 – April 13, 1941) was an American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of ...
published her first catalog of stellar spectra, which classified stars by temperature. This method was universally and permanently adopted by other astronomers. * 1903: Grace Coleridge Frankland née Toynbee was an English microbiologist. Her most notable work was ''Bacteria in Daily Life''. She was one of the nineteen female scientists who wrote the
1904 petition to the Chemical Society The 1904 petition to the Chemical Society was a petition written by 19 female chemists setting out the reasons why they should be afforded the status of Fellow of the Chemical Society. The petition is of importance as it eventually led to the admis ...
to request that they should create some female fellows of the society. * 1903: Polish-born physicist and chemist
Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the fir ...
became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize when she received the
Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
along with her husband,
Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( , ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. In 1903, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, and Henri Becq ...
, "for their joint researches on the
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel", and
Henri Becquerel Antoine Henri Becquerel (; 15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French engineer, physicist, Nobel laureate, and the first person to discover evidence of radioactivity. For work in this field he, along with Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pie ...
, "for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity". *1904: American geographer, geologist and educator
Zonia Baber Mary Arizona "Zonia" Baber (August 24, 1862 – January 10, 1956), was an American geographer and geologist best known for developing methods for teaching geography. Her teachings emphasized experiential learning through field work and experim ...
published her article "The Scope of Geography", in which she laid out her educational theories on the teaching of geography. She argued that students required a more interdisciplinary, experiential approach to learning geography: instead of a reliance on textbooks, students needed field-trips, lab work and map-making knowledge. Baber's educational ideas transformed the way schools taught geography. *1904: British chemists Ida Smedley,
Ida Freund Ida Freund (15 April 1863 – 15 May 1914) was the first woman to be a university chemistry lecturer in the United Kingdom. She is known for her influence on science teaching, particularly the teaching of women and girls. She wrote two key chem ...
and
Martha Whiteley Martha Annie Whiteley, (11 November 1866 – 24 May 1956) was an English chemist and mathematician. She was instrumental in advocating for women's entry into the Chemical Society, and was best known for her dedication to advancing women's ...
organized a petition asking the Chemical Society to admit women as Fellows. A total of 19 female chemists became signatories, but their petition was denied by the society. *1904:
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...
(15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author,
palaeobotanist Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...
and campaigner for
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...
. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification. She held the post of Lecturer in Palaeobotany at the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...
from 1904 to 1910; in this capacity she became the first female academic of that university. In 1909 she was elected to the
Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...
. She was 26 at the time of her election to Fellowship (the youngest woman admitted at that time). *1904: In a December meeting, the
Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...
elected its first women Fellows. These initial women included horticulturalist Ellen Willmott, ornithologist Emma Turner, biologist Lilian Jane Gould, mycologists
Gulielma Lister Gulielma Lister (28 October 1860 – 18 May 1949) was a British botanist and mycologist, and was considered an international authority on Mycetozoa. Life Lister was born in Sycamore House, 881 High Road, Leytonstone on 28 October 1860, one of ...
and
Annie Lorrain Smith Annie Lorrain Smith (23 October 1854 – 7 September 1937) was a British lichenologist whose ''Lichens'' (1921) was an essential textbook for several decades. She was also a mycologist and founder member of the British Mycological Society, wh ...
, and botanists Mary Anne Stebbing,
Margaret Jane Benson Margaret Jane Benson (20 October 1859 – 20 June 1936) was an English botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scient ...
and
Ethel Sargant Ethel Sargant (28 October 1863 – 16 January 1918) was a British botanist who studied both the cytology and morphology of plants. She was one of the first female members of the Linnean Society and the first woman to serve on their council. S ...
. *1905: American geneticist
Nettie Stevens Nettie Maria Stevens (July 7, 1861 – May 4, 1912) was an American geneticist who discovered sex chromosomes. In 1905, soon after the rediscovery of Mendel's paper on genetics in 1900, she observed that male mealworms produced two kinds of sp ...
discovered sex chromosomes. * 1906: Following the
San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
, American botanist and curator
Alice Eastwood __NOTOC__ Alice Eastwood (January 19, 1859 – October 30, 1953) was a Canadian American botanist. She is credited with building the botanical collection at the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco. She published over 310 scienti ...
rescued almost 1500 rare plant specimens from the burning
California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...
building. Her curation system of keeping type specimens separate from other collections – unconventional at the time – allowed her to quickly find and retrieve the specimens. *1906: Russian chemist
Irma Goldberg Irma Goldberg (born 1871) was one of the first female organic chemists to have and sustain a successful career, her work even being quoted in her own name in standard textbooks. Life Education Born in Moscow to a Russian-Jewish family, she later ...
published a paper on two newly discovered chemical reactions involving the presence of copper and the creation of a nitrogen-carbon bond to an aromatic halide. These reactions were subsequently named the
Goldberg reaction Goldberg or Goldberger may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Goldberg Ensemble, a British string ensemble * '' Goldberg Variations'', a set of 30 keyboard variations by Johann Sebastian Bach * '' The Goldbergs (broadcast series)'', American rad ...
and the Jourdan-Ullman-Goldberg reaction. *1906: English physicist, mathematician and engineer
Hertha Ayrton Phoebe Sarah Hertha Ayrton (28 April 1854 – 26 August 1923) was a British engineer, mathematician, physicist and inventor, and suffragette. Known in adult life as Hertha Ayrton, born Phoebe Sarah Marks, she was awarded the Hughes Medal by the ...
became the first female recipient of the
Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded wit ...
from the
Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
. She received the award for her experimental research on
electric arc An electric arc, or arc discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The current through a normally nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma; the plasma may produce visible light. ...
s and sand ripples. *1906: After her death, English
lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post- Renaissance, t ...
Emma Hutchinson's collection of 20,000 butterflies and moths was donated to the London Natural History Museum. She had published little during her lifetime, and was barred from joining local scientific societies due to her gender, but was honoured for her work when a variant form of the comma butterfly was named ''hutchinsoni''. * 1909:
Alice Wilson Alice Evelyn Wilson, MBE, FRSC, FRCGS (August 26, 1881 – April 15, 1964) was Canada's first female geologist. Her scientific studies of rocks and fossils in the Ottawa region between 1913 and 1963 remain a respected source of knowledge. Earl ...
became the first female geologist hired by the
Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the e ...
. She is widely credited as being the first Canadian woman geologist. *1909: Danish physicist
Kirstine Meyer Kirstine Bjerrum Meyer (12 October 1861 – 28 September 1941) was a Danish physicist and was first woman from her country to earn a doctorate in natural sciences. Biography Kirstine Bjerrum was born in Skærbæk, Denmark and died in Hellerup. ...
became the first Danish woman to receive a doctorate degree in natural sciences. She wrote her dissertation on the topic of "the development of the temperature concept" within the history of physics.


1910s

*1911: Polish-born physicist and chemist
Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the fir ...
became the first woman to receive the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
, which she received " orthe discovery of the elements
radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rat ...
and
polonium Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84. Polonium is a chalcogen. A rare and highly radioactive metal with no stable isotopes, polonium is chemically similar to selenium and tellurium, though its metallic character ...
, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element". This made her the first person ever to win the Nobel Prize twice. As of 2022, she is the only woman to win it twice and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. *1911: Norwegian biologist
Kristine Bonnevie Kristine Elisabeth Heuch Bonnevie (8 October 1872 – 30 August 1948) was a Norwegian biologist, Norway's first female professor, women's rights activist and politician for the Free-minded Liberal Party. Her fields of research were cytology, gen ...
became the first woman member of the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...
. * 1912: American astronomer
Henrietta Swan Leavitt Henrietta Swan Leavitt (; July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she worked at the Harvard College Observatory as a "computer", tasked with examining photographic plates in order to measu ...
studied the bright-dim cycle periods of Cepheid stars, then found a way to calculate the distance from such stars to Earth. * 1912: Canadian botanist and geneticist Carrie Derick was appointed a professor of morphological botany at
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...
. She was the first woman to become a full professor in any department at a Canadian university. *1913: Regina Fleszarowa became the first Polish woman to receive a PhD in natural sciences. *1913: Izabela Textorisová, the first Slovakian woman botanist, published "Flora Data from the County of Turiec" in the journal ''Botanikai Közlemények''. Her work uncovered more than 100 previously unknown species of plants from the
Turiec Turiec is a region in central Slovakia, one of the 21 official tourism regions. The region is not an administrative division today, but between the late 11th century and 1920 it was the Turóc County in the Kingdom of Hungary. Etymology The reg ...
area. * 1913: Canadian physician and chemist
Maud Menten Maud Leonora Menten (March 20, 1879 – July 17, 1960) was a Canadian physician and chemist. As a bio-medical and medical researcher, she made significant contributions to enzyme kinetics and histochemistry and invented a procedure that rema ...
co-authored a paper on
enzyme kinetics Enzyme kinetics is the study of the rates of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions. In enzyme kinetics, the reaction rate is measured and the effects of varying the conditions of the reaction are investigated. Studying an enzyme's kinetics in thi ...
, leading to the development of the Michaelis–Menten kinetics equation. *1914–1918: During World War I, a team of seven British women chemists conducted pioneering research on chemical antidotes and weaponized gases. The project leader,
Martha Whiteley Martha Annie Whiteley, (11 November 1866 – 24 May 1956) was an English chemist and mathematician. She was instrumental in advocating for women's entry into the Chemical Society, and was best known for her dedication to advancing women's ...
, was awarded the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
for her wartime contributions. *1914-1918: Dame
Helen Gwynne-Vaughan Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, (née Fraser; 21 January 1879 – 26 August 1967) was a prominent English botanist and mycologist. During the First World War, she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then as Commandant ...
, (née Fraser) was a prominent English
botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
and
mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...
. For her wartime service she was the first woman to be awarded a military DBE in January 1918. She served as Commandant of the
Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...
(WRAF) from September 1918 until December 1919. * 1914: British-born mycologist
Ethel Doidge Ethel Mary Doidge (1887–1965) was a British born, South African mycologist and bacteriologist. __NOTOC__ Doidge was born in Nottingham, England on 31 May 1887 and was educated in South Africa at Epworth School in Pietermaritzburg and Huguenot ...
became the first woman in South Africa to receive a doctorate in any subject, receiving her
doctorate of science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
degree from the University of the Good Hope. She wrote her thesis on "A bacterial disease of mango". * 1916: Isabella Preston became the first female professional plant hybridist in Canada, producing the George C. Creelman trumpet lily. Her lily later received an
Award of Merit The Award of Merit, or AM, is a mark of quality awarded to plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). The award was instituted in 1888, and given on the recommendation of Plant Committees to plants deemed "of great merit for exhibitio ...
from the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
. * 1916:
Chika Kuroda Chika Kuroda (黒田チカ; 24 March 1884 – 8 November 1968) was a Japanese chemist whose research focused on natural pigments. She was the first woman in Japan to receive a Bachelor of Science. Biography Chika Kuroda was born in Saga, Kyushu ...
became the first Japanese woman to earn a bachelor of science degree, studying chemistry at the
Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated Nation ...
. After graduation, she was subsequently appointed an assistant professor at the university. *1917: American
zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
Mary J. Rathbun received her PhD from the George Washington University. Despite never having attended college – or any formal schooling beyond high school – Rathbun had authored more than 80 scientific publications, described over 674 new species of crustacean, and developed a system for crustacean-related records at the Smithsonian Museum. *1917: Dutch biologist and geneticist Jantina Tammes became the first female university professor in the Netherlands. She was appointed an extraordinary professor of phytopathology at the University of utrecht, University of Utrecht. * 1918: German physicist and mathematician Emmy Noether created Noether's theorem explaining the connection between Symmetry in physics, symmetry and Conservation law (physics), conservation laws. * 1919: Kathleen Maisey Curtis became the first New Zealand woman to earn a Doctorate of Science, Doctorate of Science degree (DSc), completing her thesis on ''Synchytrium endobioticum'' (potato wart disease) at the Imperial College of Science and Technology. Her research was cited as "the most outstanding result in mycological research that had been presented for ten years".


1920s

* 1920: Louisa Bolus was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa for her contributions to botany. Over the course of her lifetime, Bolus identified and named more than 1,700 new South African plant species – more species than any other botanist in South Africa. * 1923: María Teresa Ferrari, an Argentine physician, earned the first diploma awarded to a woman by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris for her studies of the urinary tract. * 1924: Florence Bascom became the first woman elected to the Council of the
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
. *1925: Mexican-American botanist Ynes Mexia embarked on her first botanical expedition into Mexico, collecting over 1500 plant specimens. Over the course of the next thirteen years, Mexia collected more than 145,000 specimens from Mexico, Alaska, and multiple South American countries. She discovered 500 new species. * 1925: American medical scientist Florence Sabin became the first woman elected to the National Academy of Sciences. * 1925: British-American astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin established that hydrogen is the most common element in stars, and thus the most abundant element in the universe. * 1927: Kono Yasui became the first Japanese woman to earn a Doctorate in Science, doctorate in science, studying at the Tokyo Imperial University and completing her thesis on "Studies on the structure of lignite, brown coal, and bituminous coal in Japan". * 1928: Alice Catherine Evans, Alice Evans became the first woman elected president of the Society of American Bacteriologists. * 1928: Helen Battle became the first woman to earn a PhD in marine biology in Canada. * 1928: British biologist Kathleen E. Carpenter, Kathleen Carpenter published the first English-language textbook devoted to freshwater ecology: ''Life in Inland Waters''. *1929: American botanist Margaret Clay Ferguson became the first woman president of the
Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soc ...
. *1929: Scottish-Nigerian Agnes Yewande Savage became the first West African woman to graduate from medical school, obtaining her degree at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, University of Edinburgh.


1930s

* 1930: Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza became the first woman in Mexico to earn a civil engineering degree. *1932: Michiyo Tsujimura became the first Japanese woman to earn a doctorate in agriculture. She studied at the Tokyo Imperial University, and her doctoral thesis was entitled "On the Chemical Components of Green Tea". * 1933: Hungarian scientist Elizabeth Rona received the Haitinger Prize from the Austrian Academy of Sciences for her method of extracting polonium. *1933: American bacteriologist Ruth Ella Moore became the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in the natural sciences, completing her doctorate in bacteriology at Ohio State University. * 1935: French chemist Irène Joliot-Curie received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
along with Frédéric Joliot-Curie "for their synthesis of new Radionuclide, radioactive elements". *1935: American plant hybridist Grace Sturtevant, the "First Lady of Iris", received the American Iris Society's gold medal for her lifetime's work. * 1936: Edith Marion Patch, Edith Patch became the first female president of the Entomological Society of America. * 1936: Mycologist Kathleen Maisey Curtis was elected the first female Fellow at the Royal Society of New Zealand. * 1936: Danish Seismology, seismologist and Geophysics, geophysicist Inge Lehmann discovered that the Earth has a solid inner core distinct from its molten outer core. * 1937: Canadian forensic pathologist Frances Gertrude McGill assisted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in establishing their first forensic detection laboratory. *1937: Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain became the first female Haitian anthropologist and the first Haitian person to complete a PhD, receiving her doctoral degree from the University of Paris. * 1937: Marietta Blau and her student Hertha Wambacher, both Austrian physicists, received the Lieben Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences for their work on cosmic ray observations using the technique of nuclear emulsions. *1938: Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi became the first woman to be licensed to practise medicine in Nigeria after graduating from the University of Dublin and the first West African female medical officer with a license of the Royal Surgeon (Dublin). *1938: Geologist
Alice Wilson Alice Evelyn Wilson, MBE, FRSC, FRCGS (August 26, 1881 – April 15, 1964) was Canada's first female geologist. Her scientific studies of rocks and fossils in the Ottawa region between 1913 and 1963 remain a respected source of knowledge. Earl ...
became the first woman appointed as Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada. * 1938: South African naturalist Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered a living coelacanth fish caught near the Chalumna River, Chalumna river. The species had been believed to be extinct for over 60 million years. It was named ''latimeria chalumnae'' in her honour. * 1939: Austrian-Swedish physicist Lise Meitner, along with Otto Hahn, led the small group of scientists who first discovered nuclear fission of uranium when it absorbed an extra neutron; the results were published in early 1939. * 1939: French physicist Marguerite Perey discovered francium.


1940s

*1940: Turkish Archaeologist, Sumerologist, Assyriologist, and writer Muazzez İlmiye Çığ. Upon receiving her degree in 1940, she began a multi-decade career at Museum of the Ancient Orient, one of three such institutions comprising Istanbul Archaeology Museums, as a resident specialist in the field of Cuneiform script, cuneiform Clay tablet, tablets, thousands of which were being stored untranslated and unclassified in the facility's archives. In the intervening years, due to her efforts in the deciphering and publication of the tablets, the Museum became a Middle East#Languages, Middle Eastern languages learning center attended by ancient history researchers from every part of the world. *1941: American scientist Ruth Smith Lloyd became the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in anatomy. * 1942: Austrian-American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allies of World War II, Allied torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers. Although the US Navy did not adopt the technology until the 1960s, the principles of their work are incorporated into Bluetooth technology and are similar to methods used in legacy versions of CDMA and Wi-Fi. This work led to their induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. * 1942: American geologist Marguerite Williams became the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in geology in the United States. She completed her doctorate, entitled ''A History of Erosion in the Anacostia River, Anacostia Drainage Basin'', at Catholic University of America, Catholic University. * 1942: Native American aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross became employed at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, where she provided troubleshooting for military aircraft. She went on to work for NASA, developing operational requirements, flight plans, and a Planetary Flight Handbook for spacecraft missions such as the Apollo program. * 1943: British geologist Eileen Guppy was promoted to the rank of assistant geologist, therefore becoming the first female geology graduate appointed to the scientific staff of the British Geological Survey. *1944: Indian chemist Asima Chatterjee became the first Indian woman to receive a
doctorate of science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
, completing her studies at the University of Calcutta. She went on to establish the Department of Chemistry at Lady Brabourne College. *1945: American physicists and mathematicians Frances Spence, Ruth Teitelbaum, Marlyn Meltzer, Betty Holberton, Jean Bartik and Kathleen Antonelli programmed the electronic general-purpose computer ENIAC, becoming some of the world's first computer programmers. (The first were uncredited operators, mostly members of the Women's Royal Naval Service, of the Colossus computer in 1943–1945, but that machine was not a stored-program computer and its existence was a state secret until the 1970s.) *1945: Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale were elected as the first female Fellows of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. * 1947: Austrian-American biochemist Gerty Cori became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which she received along with Carl Ferdinand Cori "for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen", and Bernardo Houssay, Bernardo Alberto Houssay "for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of glucose, sugar". *1947: American biochemist Marie Maynard Daly became the first African-American woman to complete a PhD in chemistry in the United States. She completed her dissertation, entitled "A Study of the Products Formed by the Action of Pancreatic Amylase on Corn Starch" at Columbia University. * 1947: Berta Karlik, an Austrian physicist, was awarded the Haitinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences for her discovery of astatine. *1947: Susan Ofori-Atta became the first Ghanaian woman to earn a medical degree when she graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School, University of Edinburgh. * 1948: Canadian Plant pathology, plant pathologist and mycologist Margaret Newton became the first woman to be awarded the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada, in recognition of her extensive research in Wheat leaf rust, wheat rust fungal disease. Her experiments led to the development of rust-resistant strains of wheat. * 1948: American limnologist Ruth Patrick of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia led a multidisciplinary team of scientists on an extensive pollution survey of the Conestoga River watershed in Pennsylvania. Patrick would become a leading authority on the ecological effects of river pollution, receiving the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1975. *1949: Botanist became the first Azerbaijani woman to receive a PhD in biological studies. She went on to write the first national Azerbaijani-language textbooks on botany and biology. *Winifred Goldring (February 1, 1888 – January 30, 1971Kluessendorf, 1998, p.14), was an American paleontologist and became the first woman president of the Paleontological Society, her work included a description of stromatolites, as well as the study of Devonian crinoids. and   She was the first woman in the US to be appointed as a State Paleontologist.


Late 20th century


1950s

* 1950s: Chinese-American medical scientist Tsai-Fan Yu co-founded a clinic at Mount Sinai Medical Center for the study and treatment of gout. Working with Alexander B. Gutman, Yu established that levels of uric acid were a factor in the pain experienced by gout patients, and subsequently developed multiple effective drugs for the treatment of gout. * 1950: Chinese-American particle physicist Chien-Shiung Wu proved the validity of Quantum entanglement which counters Albert Einstein, Albert Einstein's EPR Paradox and published her work on the new year of the new decade. She also proved the validity of beta decay around this time. * 1950: Ghanaian, Matilda J. Clerk became the first woman in Ghana and West Africa to attend graduate school, earning a postgraduate diploma at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. * 1950: Isabella Abbott became the first Native Hawaiian woman to receive a PhD in any science; hers was in botany. * 1950: American microbiologist Esther Lederberg became the first to isolate lambda bacteriophage, a DNA virus, from Escherichia coli K-12, ''Escherichia coli'' K-12. *1951: Ghana's Esther Afua Ocloo became the first person of African ancestry to obtain a cooking diploma from the Good Housekeeping Institute in London and to take the post-graduate Food Preservation Course at Long Ashton Research Station, Department of Horticulture, Bristol University. * 1952: American computer scientist Grace Hopper completed what is considered to be the first compiler, a program that allows a computer user to use a human-readable high-level programming language instead of machine code. It was known as the A-0 compiler. * 1952: Photo 51, Photograph 51, an X-ray diffraction image of Crystallization, crystallized DNA, was taken by Raymond Gosling in May 1952, working as a PhD student under the supervision of British chemist and biophysicist Rosalind Franklin; it was critical evidence in identifying the structure of DNA. * 1952: Canadian agriculturalist Mary MacArthur became the first female Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada for her contributions to the science of food dehydration and freezing. * 1953: Canadian-British radiobiologist Alma Howard co-authored a paper proposing that cellular life transitions through four distinct periods. This became the first concept of the cell cycle. * 1954: Lucy Cranwell was the first female recipient of the Hector Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand. She was recognized for her pioneering work with pollen in the emerging field of palynology. * 1955: Moira Dunbar became the first female glaciologist to study sea ice from a Canadian icebreaker ship. * 1955: Japanese geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi published her research on measuring carbonic acid levels in seawater. The paper included "Saruhashi's Table", a tool of measurement she had developed that focused on using water temperature, pH level, and chlorinity to determine carbonic acid levels. Her work contributed to global understanding of climate change, and Saruhashi's Table was used by oceanographers for the next 30 years. *1955–1956: Soviet marine biologist Maria Klenova became the first woman scientist to work in the Antarctic, conducting research and assisting in the establishment of the Mirny Station, Mirny Antarctic station. *1956: Canadian zoologist and feminist Anne Innis Dagg began pioneering behavioural research on wild giraffes in South Africa in Kruger National Park. She researched and published on feminism and anti-nepotism laws at academic institutions in North America. * 1956: Chinese-American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu conducted a nuclear physics experiment in collaboration with the Low Temperature Group of the US National Bureau of Standards. It was an important foundation for the Standard Model in particle physics and brought the first answer to the question of the universe's existence by virtue of Baryon asymmetry, matter's predominance over antimatter. The experiment, becoming known as the Wu experiment, showed that parity could be violated in weak interaction. The Nobel Prize was given only to her male colleagues soon after the headlines of the discovery were released. * 1956: Dorothy Hill became the first Australian woman elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. * 1956: English zoologist and geneticist Margaret Bastock published the first evidence that a single gene could change behavior. * 1957–1958: Chinese scientist Lanying Lin produced China's first germanium and silicon mono-crystals, subsequently pioneering new techniques in semiconductor development. * 1959: Chinese astronomer Ye Shuhua led the development of the Joint Chinese Universal Time System, which became the Chinese national standard for measuring Universal Time, universal time. * 1959: Susan Ofori-Atta, the first Ghanaian woman physician, became a founding member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.


1960s

* 1960: British primatologist Jane Goodall began studying chimpanzees in Tanzania; her study of them continued for over 50 years. Her observations challenged previous ideas that only humans made tools and that chimpanzees had a basically vegetarian diet. * Early 1960s: German-Canadian Metallurgy, metallurgist Ursula Franklin studied levels of radioactive isotope strontium-90 that were appearing in the teeth of children as a side effect of nuclear weapons testing fallout. Her research influenced the Partial Test Ban Treaty, Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. * 1960s: American mathematician Katherine Johnson calculated flight paths at NASA for crewed space flights. *1961: Indian chemist Asima Chatterjee became the first female recipient of a Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. She was recognized in the Chemical Sciences category for her contributions to phytomedicine. * 1962: Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist, author, and conservation movement, conservationist whose book ''Silent Spring'' and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement. * 1962: South African botanist Margaret Levyns became the first woman president of the Royal Society of South Africa. *1962: French physicist Marguerite Perey became the first female Fellow elected to the Académie des Sciences. *1963: Elsa G. Vilmundardóttir became the first female Icelandic geologist, completing her studies at Stockholm University. * 1963: Maria Goeppert Mayer became the first American woman to receive a
Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
; she shared the prize with J. Hans D. Jensen "for their discoveries concerning Nuclear shell model, nuclear shell structure" and Eugene Wigner, Eugene Paul Wigner "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental Wigner's theorem, symmetry principles". * 1964: American mathematician Irene Stegun completed the work which led to the publication of Abramowitz and Stegun, ''Handbook of Mathematical Functions'', a widely used and widely cited reference work in applied mathematics. * 1964: British chemist Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
"for her determinations by Crystallography, X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances". *1964: Scottish virologist June Almeida made the first identification of a human coronavirus. * 1965: Sister Mary Kenneth Keller became the first American woman to receive a Ph.D. in computer science. Her thesis was titled "Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns". * 1966: Japanese immunologist Teruko Ishizaka, working with Kimishige Ishizaka, discovered the antibody class Immunoglobulin E (IgE). * 1967: British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell co-discovered the first radio pulsars. * 1967: Sue Arnold became the first female British Geological Survey person to go to sea on a research vessel. * 1967: South African radiobiologist Tikvah Alper discovered that scrapie, an infectious brain disease affecting sheep, did not spread via DNA or RNA like a viral or bacterial disease. The discovery enabled scientists to better understand diseases caused by prions. * 1967: Yvonne Brill, a Canadian-American rocket and jet propulsion engineer, invented the hydrazine Resistojet rocket, resistojet propulsion system. * 1968: Japanese pioneer of molecular biology Tsuneko Okazaki studied DNA replication and discovered Okazaki fragments. * 1969: Beris Cox became the first female paleontologist in the British Geological Survey. *1969: Ukrainian-born astronomer Svetlana Gerasimenko co-discovered the 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko comet.


1970s

* 1970: Dorothy Hill became the first female president of the Australian Academy of Science. *1970: Samira Islam became the first Saudi Arabian person to earn a PhD in pharmacology. * 1970: Astronomer Vera Rubin published the first evidence for dark matter. *1970: Polish geologist Franciszka Szymakowska became widely known because of her unique and detailed geological drawings that are still used today. *1973: American physicist Anna Coble became the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in biophysics, completing her dissertation at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Illinois. *1974: Dominican marine biologist Idelisa Bonnelly founded the Dominican Republic Academy of Science. *1975: Indian chemist Asima Chatterjee was elected the General President of the Indian Science Congress Association. She simultaneously became the first woman scientist ever elected a member of the congress. *1975: Indian geneticist Archana Sharma (botanist), Archana Sharma received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the first female recipient in the Biological Sciences category. * 1975: Female officers of the British Geological Survey no longer had to resign upon getting married. * 1975: Chien-Shiung Wu became the first female president of the
American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
. * 1976: Filipino-American microbiologist Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann traveled to the Antarctic with Imre Friedmann and discovered micro-organisms living within the porous rock of the Ross Desert. These organisms – Endolith, cryptoendoliths – were observed surviving extremely low temperatures and humidity, assisting scientific research into the possibility of life on Mars. * 1976: Margaret Burbidge was named the first female president of the American Astronomical Society. * 1977: American medical physicist Rosalyn Yalow received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones" along with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally, Andrew V. Schally who received it "for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain". * 1977: Friederike Victoria Joy Adamson (née Gessner, 20 January 1910 – 3 January 1980) was a naturalist, artist and author. Her book, Born Free, an international bestseller, describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa. It was made into an Academy Award-winning movie of the same name. In 1977, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. * 1977: The Association for Women Geoscientists was founded. * 1977: Argentine-Canadian scientist Veronica Dahl became the first graduate at Université d'Aix-Marseille II (and one of the first women in the world) to earn a PhD in artificial intelligence. * 1977: Canadian-American Elizabeth Stern published her research on the link between birth control pills – which contained high levels of estrogen at the time – and the increased risk of cervical cancer development in women. Her data helped pressure the pharmaceutical industry into providing safer contraceptive pills with lower hormone doses. * 1978: Anna Jane Harrison became the first female president of the American Chemical Society. * 1978: Mildred Cohn served as the first female president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, then called the American Society of Biological Chemists.


1980s

* 1980: Japanese geochemist Katsuko Saruhashi became the first woman elected to the Science Council of Japan. * 1980: Nigerian geophysicist Deborah Ajakaiye became the first woman in any West African country to be appointed a full professor of physics. Over the course of her scientific career, she became the first female Fellow elected to the Nigerian Academy of Science, and the first female dean of science in Nigeria. * 1981: Vera Rubin was the second woman astronomer elected to the National Academy of Science. Beginning her academic career as the sole undergraduate in astronomy at Vassar College, Rubin went on to graduate studies at Cornell University and Georgetown University, where she observed deviations from Hubble's law, Hubble flow in galaxies and provided evidence for the existence of Supercluster, galactic superclusters. *1982: Nephrologist Leah Lowenstein became the first woman dean of a Coed, co-educational medical school in the United States. *1982: Janet Vida Watson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Geological Society of London, FGS (1923–1985) was a British geologist. She was a professor of Geology at Imperial College London, Imperial College, London. A fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, she is well known for her contribution to the understanding of the Lewisian complex and as an author and co-author of several books. In 1982 she was elected President of the Geological Society of London, the first woman to occupy that position. * 1983: American Cytogenetics, cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of transposons, genetic transposition; she was the first woman to receive that prize without sharing it, and the first American woman to receive any unshared Nobel Prize. * 1983: Brazilian agronomist Johanna Döbereiner became a founding Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences. *1983: Indian immunologist Indira Nath became the first woman scientist to receive the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award in the Medical Sciences category. *1983: Geologist Sudipta Sengupta and marine biologist Aditi Pant became the first Indian women to visit the Antarctic. * 1985: After identifying HIV as the cause of HIV/AIDS, AIDS, Chinese-American virologist Flossie Wong-Staal became the first scientist to clone and genetically map the HIV virus, enabling the development of the first HIV blood screening tests. * 1986: Italian neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Stanley Cohen (biochemist), Stanley Cohen, "for their discoveries of growth factors". * 1988: American biochemist and Pharmacology, pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with James Black (pharmacologist), James W. Black and George H. Hitchings "for their discoveries of important principles for Pharmacology, drug treatment". * 1988: American scientist and inventor Patricia Bath (born 1942) became the first African-American to patent a medical device, namely the Laserphaco Probe for improving the use of lasers to remove cataracts.


1990s

* 1991: Doris Malkin Curtis became the first woman president of the
Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...
. *1991: Indian geologist Sudipta Sengupta became the first woman scientist to receive the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award in the Earth Sciences category. *Helen Patricia Sharman, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Royal Society of Chemistry, HonFRSC (born 30 May 1963) is a chemist who became the first British astronaut (and in particular, the first British cosmonaut) as well as the first woman to visit the ''Mir'' space station in May 1991. * 1992: Mae Carol Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992. * 1992: Edith M. Flanigen became the first woman awarded the Perkin Medal (widely considered the highest honor in American industrial chemistry) for her outstanding achievements in applied chemistry. The medal especially recognized her syntheses of aluminophosphate and silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieves as new classes of materials. * 1995: German biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Edward B. Lewis and Eric F. Wieschaus, "for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early Embryogenesis, embryonic development". * 1995: British geomorphologist Marjorie Sweeting published the first comprehensive Western account of China's karst, entitled ''Karst in China: its Geomorphology and Environment.'' * 1995: Israeli-Canadian mathematical biologist Leah Keshet became the first woman president of the international Society for Mathematical Biology. * 1995: Jane Plant became the first female Deputy Director of the British Geological Survey. *1995: Inspectors from the United Nations Special Commission discovered that Iraqi microbiologist Rihab Taha, nicknamed "Dr. Germ", had been overseeing a secret 10-year Iraqi biological weapons program, biological warfare development program in Iraq. * 1996: American planetary scientist Margaret G. Kivelson led a team that discovered the first subsurface, saltwater ocean on an alien world, on the Jovian moon Europa (moon), Europa. * 1997: Lithuanian-Canadian primatologist Birutė Galdikas received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for her research and rehabilitation work with orangutans. Her work with orangutans, eventually spanning over 30 years, was later recognized in 2014 as one of the longest continuous scientific studies of wild animals in history. *1997: Chilean astronomer María Teresa Ruiz discovered Kelu-1, Kelu 1, one of the first observed brown dwarfs. In recognition of her discovery, she became the first woman to receive the Chilean National Prize for Exact Sciences (Chile), National Prize for Exact Sciences. *1998: Nurse Fannie Gaston-Johansson became the first African-American woman Academic tenure, tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins University. * Late 1990s: Ethiopian-American chemist Sossina M. Haile developed the first solid acid fuel cell.


21st century


2000s

* 2000: Venezuelan astrophysicist Kathy Vivas presented her discovery of approximately 100 "new and very distant" RR Lyrae variable, RR Lyrae stars, providing insight into the structure and history of the Milky Way galaxy. * 2003: American geophysicist Claudia Alexander oversaw the final stages of Project Galileo, a space exploration mission that ended at the planet Jupiter. * 2004: American biologist Linda B. Buck received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Richard Axel "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system". * 2006: Chilean biochemist Cecilia Hidalgo Tapia became the first woman to receive the Chilean National Prize for Natural Sciences (Chile), National Prize for Natural Sciences. * 2006: Chinese-American biochemist Yizhi Jane Tao led a team of researchers to become the first to map the atomic structure of Influenza A virus, Influenza A, contributing to Antiviral drug, antiviral research. *2006: Parasitologist Susan Lim (parasitologist), Susan Lim became the first Malaysian scientist elected to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. * 2006: Merieme Chadid became the first Moroccan person and the first female astronomer to travel to Antarctica, leading an international team of scientists in the installation of a major observatory in the South Pole. * 2006: American computer scientist Frances E. Allen won the Turing Award for "pioneering contributions to the theory and practice of optimizing compiler techniques that laid the foundation for modern optimizing compilers and automatic parallel execution". She was the first woman to win the award. * 2006: Canadian-American computer scientist Maria Klawe became the president of Harvey Mudd College. * 2007: Using satellite imagery, Egyptian geomorphologist Eman Ghoneim discovered traces of an 11,000-year-old mega lake in the Sahara Desert. The discovery shed light on the origins of the largest modern groundwater reservoir in the world. * 2007: Physicist Ibtesam Badhrees was the first Saudi Arabian woman to become a member of the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). * 2008: French virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Harald zur Hausen and Luc Montagnier, "for their discovery of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus". *2008: American-born Australian Penny Sackett became Australia's first female Chief Scientist. * 2008: American computer scientist Barbara Liskov won the Turing Award for "contributions to practical and theoretical foundations of programming language and system design, especially related to data abstraction, fault tolerance, and distributed computing". * 2009: American molecular biologist Carol W. Greider received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Elizabeth Blackburn, Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase". * 2009: Israeli Crystallography, crystallographer Ada E. Yonath, along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz, received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
"for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome". * 2009: Chinese geneticist Zeng Fanyi and her research team published their experiment results proving that induced pluripotent stem cells can be used to generate whole mammalian bodies – in this case, live mice.


2010s

* 2010: Marcia McNutt became the first female director of the United States Geological Survey. *2011: Kazakhstani neuroscience student and computer hacker Alexandra Elbakyan launched Sci-Hub, a website that provides users with pirated copies of scholarly scientific papers. Within five years, Sci-Hub grew to contain 60 million papers and recorded over 42 million annual downloads by users. Elbakyan was finally sued by major academic publishing company Elsevier, and Sci-Hub was subsequently taken down, but it reappeared under different domain names. *2011: Taiwanese-American astrophysicist Chung-Pei Ma led a team of scientists in discovering two of the largest black holes ever observed. * 2012: Computer scientist and Cryptography, cryptographer Shafi Goldwasser won the Turing award for her contributions to cryptography and Computational complexity theory, complexity theory. * 2013: Canadian genetic specialist Turi King identified the 500-year-old skeletal remains of Richard III of England, King Richard III. * 2013: Kenyan ichthyologist Dorothy Wanja Nyingi published the first guide to freshwater fish species of Kenya. * 2014: Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist May-Britt Moser received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe (neuroscientist), John O'Keefe, "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain". * 2014: American Paleoclimatology, paleoclimatologist and marine geologist Maureen Raymo became the first woman to be awarded the Wollaston Medal, the highest award of the Geological Society of London. * 2014: American theoretical physicist Shirley Ann Jackson was awarded the National Medal of Science. Jackson had been the first African-American woman to receive a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the early 1970s, and the first woman to chair the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. * 2014: Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to receive the Fields Medal, for her work in "the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces". * 2015: Chinese medical scientist Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with William C. Campbell (scientist), William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura; she received it "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria". *2015: Asha de Vos became the first Sri Lankan person to receive a PhD in marine mammal research, completing her thesis on "Factors influencing blue whale aggregations off southern Sri Lanka" at the University of Western Australia. * 2016: Marcia McNutt became the first woman president of the American National Academy of Sciences. * 2018: British astrophysicists Hiranya Peiris and Joanna Dunkley and Italian cosmologist Licia Verde were among 27 scientists awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their contributions to "detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies". * 2018: British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell received the special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for her scientific achievements and "inspiring leadership", worth $3 million. She donated the entirety of the prize money towards the creation of scholarships to assist women, underrepresented minorities and refugees who are pursuing the study of physics. * 2018: Canadian physicist Donna Strickland received the
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"for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics"; she shared it with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou. * 2018: Frances Arnold received the
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"for the directed evolution of enzymes"; she shared it with George P. Smith (chemist), George Smith and Greg Winter, Gregory Winter, who received it "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies". This made Frances the first American woman to receive the
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. * 2018: For the first time in history, women received the
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and the
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in the same year. * 2019: Mathematician Karen Uhlenbeck became the first woman to win the Abel Prize for "her pioneering achievements in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory, and integrable systems, and for the fundamental impact of her work on mathematical analysis, analysis, geometry and mathematical physics". * 2019: Imaging scientist Katie Bouman developed an algorithm that made the first visualization of a black hole possible using the Event Horizon Telescope. She was part of the team of over 200 people who implemented the project.


2020s

* 2020: The Nigerian Academy of Science elected epidemiologist/parasitologist Ekanem Ikpi Braide, Ekanem Braide as its first female president. * 2020: Brazilian Scientist and Researche
Jaqueline Goes de Jesus
sequenced COVID-19 genome in 12 hours. * 2020: Biochemists Jennifer Doudna (American) and Emmanuelle Charpentier (French) received the
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for their work on CRISPR genome editing tool. * 2020: Andrea M. Ghez received the
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for the discovery of a supermassive compact object. * 2020: German-Turkish scientist Özlem Türeci is the co-founder and chief medical officer of BioNTech. Her team developed BNT162b2 (tozinameran (INN)), commonly known as the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. * 2020: British vaccinologist Sarah Gilbert leads the development and testing of a vaccine which becomes the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. * 2022: American chemist Carolyn R. Bertozzi received the
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for her development of Bioorthogonal chemistry.


See also

*List of female scientists before the 20th century * Lists of women#Science, Lists of women in science * Women in geology#Timeline of women in geology, Timeline of women in geology * Timeline of women in library science * Timeline of women in computing * Timeline of women in mathematics * Timeline of women in mathematics in the United States * Timeline of women in science in the United States * Timeline of women's education * Women in physics


References


External links


Famous female scientists: A timeline of pioneering women in science
from the website of Dr Helen Klus {{DEFAULTSORT:.Timeline of women in science Timelines of women in history, science Science timelines Women scientists