Time-Line of Historical Highlights The focus of this timeline is on women's experiences as they overcame obstacles to pursue their scientific interests. The entries in this timeline identify links to specific web pages containing photos of the women as well as bibliographic resources by number located on the WIST News & Resources page that contain more information about their lives. B.C. 0-17th C. 18th C. 19th C. 20th C. 2700 B.C. MERIT PTAH (2700 B. C.) - Egypt: Physician Physician and first woman recorded by name in the history of science. Links: www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/MERIT_PTAH.html Resources: 13, 45 400 B.C. AGNODIKE (400 B. C.) - Greece: Physician Cut her hair and dressed as a man to study and practice medicine. Jealous of her popularity among female patients, male doctors had her prosecuted on the charge of corrupting men's wives. Links: www.uh.edu/engines/epi544.htm www.hsc.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/antiqua/stext.htm Resources: 1, 21, 44, 46 370 A.D. HYPATIA (370-415) - Egypt: Mathematician, Philosopher Head of the Platonist school in Alexandria. A gifted orator and teacher, Hypatia also invented an astrolab and a planisphere. Hypatia became a symbol of science and learning and was murdered by Christians threatened by her scholarship and refusal to convert. "All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final." -Hypatia Links: www.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/primary-sources.html www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hypatia.html Resources: 1, 9, 11, 29, 35 1100 TROTULA DE SALERNO (1097)- Italy: Physician A leading gynecologist and obstetrician, De Salerno published writings on the female body aimed at male doctors to help them better understand and treat women. Her frank and forthright writing about childbirth and various aspects of sex led one 20th century medical historian to claim that a woman could not have written such a sexually explicit treatise. Links: www.netsrq.com/~dbois/trotula.html Resources: 1, 5, 7, 44 1650 MARIA SYBILLA MERIAN (1647-1717) - Germany: Entomologist A leading entomologist of the 18th century, Merian illustrated, wrote, and published her own works on natural history and was one of the first to study the process of metamorphosis. Her work on bird-eating spiders was ridiculed until confirmed by an English naturalist. Links: www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/MERIAN.html Resources: 1, 39, 44 1700 EMILIE DU CHATELET (1706-1749) - France: Physicist, Mathematician Among her greatest achievements was a translation of Newton's Principia, which was published after her death along with a "Preface historique" written by Voltaire. Disguising herself as a man in order to study science, du Chatelet was given early support by her father to seek an education as he thought she was too ugly to ever receive a marriage proposal. Ironically, she was married at 19 years of age and later became the mistress of Voltaire, among others. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/chatelet.htm britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/9/0,5716,23049+1,00.html Resources: 1, 32, 35, 39 LAURA BASSI (1711-1778) - Italy: Physicist The first woman to officially teach at a college in Europe (University of Bologna), and the second woman to obtain a Ph.D., Bassi was at the forefront of science's shift from Cartesian to Newtonian physics. Although she published numerous technical papers on replications of Ben Franklin's work, her original collaborative research with her husband on medical uses of electricity does not appear anywhere in her archives. It has been suggested that the lack of publications in this area was due to the public's hostility toward women who wrote books under their own names. Links: www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1836/laura/bassi.html Resources: 39, 44 MARIA AGNESI (1718-1799) - Italy: Mathematician Said to have been a woman of remarkable aptitude and humility, Agnesi mastered multiple languages before the age of 10. At the age of 9 she wrote a discourse in Latin defending liberal education for women, and over her lifetime defended 191 theses on mathematical concepts. In her later years, she dedicated herself to the church and focused her studies on theology. Links: http://brittanica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,4095+1,00.html www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/agnesi.htm www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/AGNESI.html Resources: 9, 12, 35, 44, 45 1750 CAROLINE LUCRETIA HERSCHEL (1750-1848) - Germany: Astronomer Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet in 1786 and eventually discovered seven more comets. She was awarded a Gold medal by the Royal Astronomical Society in 1828. Herschel was discouraged by her mother from seeking an education, and initially followed her brothers to London to join their band. When one of them quit to learn astronomy, Herschel followed in his footsteps eventually surpassing him. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/herschel.htm www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Herschel_Caroline.html www.amazoncity.com/technology/museum/herschel.html Resources: 1, 16, 31, 35 1775 SOPHIE GERMAIN (1776-1831) - France: Mathematician Although eventually recognized as a gifted mathematician, she was never given proper credit for her contributions to number theory and mathematical physics. Germain overcame both gender and class limitations (she was middle-class), and was self-educated in opposition to her parents who tried to force her away from her studies by taking away her warmth, light, and clothes. Confined to home during the French Revolution, she secretly learned from texts in her father's library. Links: www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Germain.html Resources: 9, 10, 15, 29, 35 1780 MARY SOMERVILLE (1780-1872) - England: Scientist/Physicist/Astronomer Conducted scientific experiments on magnetism and became the first woman to have her work published in the Royal Society. Because she was a girl, her parents saw no need to provide her an education; her mother taught her to read but it was not considered necessary to teach her to write. She educated herself by reading every book she could find, but was criticized for such unladylike behavior. When the death of her first husband left her financially secure and personally independent, Somerville, ignoring the disapproval of others, devoted herself to the study of astronomy and Newton's teachings. She was an ardent women's rights advocate and suffragist, and in 1879 Somerville College in Oxford was named after her in recognition of her strong support for women's education. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/somer.htm www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Somerville.html Resources: 15, 35, 44 1800 ADA BYRON LOVELACE (1815-1851) - England:Mathematician/Technologist Lovelace is acknowledged as the world's first computer programmer. A software language developed by the U. S. Department of Defense was named "Ada" in her honor in 1979. The daughter of Lord Byron, she was mentored by Mary Somerville. Plagued by illness, she died at 36. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/love.htm Resources: 1, 9, 24, 35, 42, 44 MARIA MITCHELL (1818-1889) - U. S. A.: Astronomer The first woman astronomer in America and the first woman to achieve membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Barred from visiting the Vatican observatory because of her sex, she got special permission to visit - but only in the daytime (i.e., when the stars weren't out). Women collected money to buy her a telescope. Mitchell helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women in 1873. Links: antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981010.html noether.vassar.edu/astro/mamitchell.html www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95aug/mitchell.html Resources: 9, 28, 44 ELIZABETH BLACKWELL (1821-1910) - England: Physician The first woman awarded an M.D., she was barred from practicing in city hospitals because of her sex. In response, she founded her own infirmary and later, the Women's Medical College. Links: www.greatwomen.org/blkwele.htm library.thinkquest.org/20117/blackwell.html www.hws.edu/his/blackwell Resources: 9, 27, 44 1825 ELLEN SWALLOW RICHARDS (1842-1911) - U. S. A.: Chemist The first female in the nation to study at MIT and to become a professional chemist, she was not charged tuition so that if there were complaints the administration could claim she wasn't officially a student. Richards developed MIT's Women's Laboratory and pioneered the study and profession of home economics, which opened doors for women seeking careers. Links: www.greatwomen.org/rchrdse.htm www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/RICHARDS.html Resources: 27, 40 CHRISTINE LADD-FRANKLIN (1847-1930) - U. S. A.: Mathematician/Logician A mathematician who studied symbolic logic, Ladd-Franklin attended Johns Hopkins University but left without a Ph.D. as they did not grant doctoral degrees to women. Eventually granted her degree 44 years after completing her dissertation, she became a lecturer of psychology and logic at Johns Hopkins and Columbia Universities. Ladd-Franklin encouraged graduate education and academic employment for women and gave research fellowships to women doctoral candidates. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/ladd.htm Resources: 17, 35 1850 SOFIA KOVALEVSKAYA (1850-1891) - Russia: Mathematician A mathematician and women's rights advocate, Kovalevskaya's exposure to mathematics began at a very young age when she studied her father's old calculus notes that covered her nursery walls in place of wallpaper. Determined to obtain a university education, but not permitted to travel alone as an unmarried woman, Kovalevskaya entered into a marriage of convenience in order to pursue her passion for knowledge. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/kova.htm Resources: 1, 15, 35 1860 MARY WHITON CALKINS (1863-1930) - U. S. A.: Psychologist An early woman pioneer in psychology, she conducted research on the self and on human memory. Calkins earned, but was denied, a Ph.D. from Harvard; she was the first woman president of APA, and an advocate for women. "It is futile and impossible to attempt a distinction between masculine and feminine intellect per se...because of our entire inability to eliminate the effect of the environment" - Mary Whiton Calkins Links: www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/CALKINS.html www.webster.edu/~woolflm/marycalkins.html Resources: 3, 45 BEATRIX POTTER (1866-1943) - England: Scientist, writer Discouraged by rejection of her early work on botany because of her sex, she applied her talents as an illustrator and writer of children's books. Links: http://encarta.msn.com Resources: 33 MARIE CURIE (1867-1934) - Poland: Physicist, Chemist Discovered radium; set up the Curie laboratory in Paris. The first woman awarded a Nobel prize when her husband refused to accept it for their work unless she was honored with him. "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained." - Marie Curie Links: www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/lucidcafe/library/95nov/curie.html hum.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/sci/msc.htm Resources: 1, 23 ALICE HAMILTON (1869-1970) - U. S. A.: Physician, Social reformer A professor of pathology who conducted pioneering research on industrial diseases. Considered a founder of occupational medicine, Hamilton was also a humanitarian and traveled throughout Europe during WWI to promote peace. Hamilton was on the Harvard faculty, but was not allowed use of the Faculty Club or access to football tickets, and was not allowed to march at commencement. Links: www.greatwomen.org/hmlton.htm www.cdc.gov/niosh/alice.html www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhamiltonA.htm www.netsrq.com/~dbois/hamilton-a.html Resources: 27, 34 1870 LISE MEITNER (1878-1968) - Austria/Sweden: Physicist Meitnerium, element 109, is named after this extraordinary physicist who first identified nuclear fission. After using her last name only in early articles, Meitner's work was rejected when an editor found out she was a woman. Her groundbreaking cosmic physics paper was widely lampooned in the press as "cosmetic physics." Links: www.users.bigpond.com/Sinclair/fission/LiseMeitner.html physics.uwstout.edu/sotw/meitner.htm www.suite101.com/article.cfm/womens_history_old/10414 Resources: 1, 23, 41 LILLIAN MOLLER GILBRETH (1878-1972) - U. S. A.: Psychologist/Industrial Engineer One of the first "I/O" psychologists, Gilbreth combined her background in industrial engineering with a focus on human factors in the workplace. She recognized the importance of environmental aspects to worker productivity and satisfaction. Gilbreth also used the techniques of motion analysis to design special equipment to make housework easier for those with physical handicaps. Publishers refused to include her name on books written with her husband, and later forced her to publish using initials. Clients dropped her after her husband died so she turned to designing kitchens (women's work?); her inventions include the foot pedal trash can and shelves in refrigerator doors. Links: www.greatwomen.org/glbrth.htm www.webster.edu/~woolflm/gilbreth.html www.engr.psu.edu/wep/EngCompSp98/CGeary/Gilbreth.html www.projo.com/special/women/94root18.htm Resources: 2, 27, 44 1880 EMMY NOETHER (1882-1935) - Germany: Mathematician A talented and prolific mathematician, Noether was able to see mathematical relationships that traditional algebra experts could not. She published over 40 papers in her lifetime. Because she was a woman, she could only audit classes as an undergraduate, and had to gain entry to a doctoral program via examination. She worked without pay and taught under another professor's name before coming to America. Links: www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/noether.htm cedar.evansville.edu/~ck6/bstud/noether.html www.physik.tu-muenchen.de/lehrstuehle/T32/ matpack/html/Biographies/Noether_Emmy.html Resources: 6, 9, 15, 35 KAREN HORNEY (1885-1952) - Germany: Psychiatrist/Psychoanalyst Attacked and denigrated by Freud for her eloquent challenges to his ideas about women. In 1941, she co-founded The American Institute for Psychoanalysis and The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, where she served as Dean and Editor, respectively, until her death in 1952. "Concern should drive us into action and not into depression." - Karen Horney Links: www.lukeharms.com/karen/ Resources: 13, 34 1890 GERTY CORI (1896-1957) - Czechoslovakia: Biochemist Her work on blood glucose regulation made great inroads for the treatment of diabetes and resulted in two Nobel Prizes - for Peace, and for Medicine and Physiology - in the same year. She was the first American woman to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences. Links: www.greatwomen.org/cori.htm Resources: 23, 27, 36, 44 IRENE JOLIOT-CURIE (1897-1956) - Nuclear physicist: France The daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, she conducted groundbreaking work on radioactive elements and received the 1935 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Links: www.netsrq.com/~dbois/joliot.html www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/chemach/ans/ifjc.html www.woodrow.org/teachers/ci/1992/IreneJoliot-Curie.html Resources: 23 1900 BARBARA MCCLINTOCK (1902-1992) - U. S. A.: Cytogeneticist Her research on genes transformed our understanding of hereditary processes, the development of diseases, and bacterial resistance to antibiotics. McClintock was the first woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize for Medicine - ironically, for unheralded work conducted 35 years earlier! Links: www.greatwomen.org/mclntck.htm www.cshl.org/public/mcclintock.html hermes.mbl.edu/women_of_science/mcclintock.html Resources: 9, 27, 34, 36 ROSZA PETER (1905-1977) - Hungary: Mathematician Unrecognized co-founder of computational theory. Although she received her doctorate in 1935, Fascist laws passed a few years later prohibited Peter from teaching, until 1945 when she became a faculty member at a teachers training college. Known as "Aunt Rosza" by her students, Peter worked to create opportunity for girls and women in math. Links: www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/peter.html Resources: 38 GRACE MURRAY HOPPER (1906-1992) - U. S. A.: Mathematician/Computer Technologist Educated at Vassar and Yale. Hopper joined the navy during World War II, where she eventually became the first female Rear Admiral, and conducted pioneering work on computers, developing COBOL and other computer languages. "Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, 'We've always done it this way.' I try to fight that. That's why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise." - Grace Murray Hopper Links: www.greatwomen.org/hopper.htm www.wic.org/bio/ghopper.htm http://www.cs.yale.edu/~tap/Files/hopper-story.html Resources: 9, 27, 34, 36 MARIA GOEPPERT MAYER (1906-1972) - U. S. A.: Physicist The first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, Mayer's research established theoretical bases for the subfield of nuclear physics. Anti-nepotism laws denied her faculty status and she worked without pay for years. Three years after her election to the National Academy of Sciences, she was finally hired as a professor (with pay) at UCSD at the age of 53. Links: www.greatwomen.org/mayer.htm www.physics.ucla.edu/~moszkows/mgm/rgsmgm4.htm www.ipd.anl.gov/library/internet/mgm.html www.uwplatt.edu/~wise/goeppert/goeppert.html Resources: 27, 34, 36 RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI (b. 1909) - Italy: Neurobiologist Shared a Nobel Prize for her research on cellular growth factors. As a Jew, Levi-Montalcini faced many barriers. Her work was rejected by journals because she was Jewish, and in 1938 she was forced to leave her university when Fascist laws went into effect. Undeterred, she devised a laboratory in her own home where much of her groundbreaking research was conducted. "…the energizing force in all fields of human endeavour is motivation, a truth badly neglected by societies which expect women endowed with the same brain power as men to be contented with an imposed rather than a chosen role." "The structure of human societies does not as a rule change for better or worse ina step-like fashion, but only when they are overthrown by cataclysyms which all of a sudden break down barriers which were supposed to be unbreakable…and sweep away, as a river in flood, the peaceful rhythm of human life." - Rita Levi-Montalcini Levi-Montalcini, in an autobiographical paper: "…the gates of the Road to Liberation are now wide open. The writer, who in the days of her youth found these gates closed, watches with love the long line of younger sisters engaging in this once ‘off limits' road." Links: www.smau.it/nobel/eng/bio/montalcini.htm zygote.swarthmore.edu/axon1c.html Resources: 4, 20, 23 1910 DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN (1910-1994) - England: Chemist Won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on vitamin B12. One of the first to use X-ray crystallography in her research, Hodgkin made great advances on the study of insulin and in advancing methods of X-ray analysis. While working at Oxford University, where she also received her degree, Hodgkin was not allowed to attend faculty research meetings because she was a woman. Links: almaz.com/nobel/chemistry/dch.html curie.che.virginia.edu/scientist/hodgkin.html www.sdsc.edu/Publications/ScienceWomen/hodgkin.html Resources: 1, 23 CHIEN SHIUNG-WU (1912-1997) - China: Physicist A foremost experimental and nuclear physicist, Shiung Wu's research radically changed scientific views on the behavior of nuclear particles. She did not share the 1957 Nobel Prize (Physics) that her work earned. She did have an asteroid named after, however! "I sincerely doubt that any open-minded person really believes in the faulty notion that women have no intellectual capacity for science and technology. Nor do I believe that social and economic factors are the actual obstacles that prevent women's participation in the scientific and technical field. The main stumbling block in the way of any progress is and always has been unimpeachable tradition." - Chien Shiung-Wu, speaking at a 1964 conference on women and science Links: www.greatwomen.org/wu.htm web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsR-Z/wu.html www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol22/ vol22_iss15/record2215.16.html www.inventions.org/culture/science/women/chien-shiungwu.html Resources: 20, 23, 27, 34, 43 KAMAL J. RANADIVE (b. 1917) - India: Research scientist Introduced tissue culture technology into India and co-founded the first Indian cancer research center. In her lifetime, Ranadive has published over 200 research papers on cancer and leprosy. Resources: 40 GERTRUDE BELLE ELION (1918-1999) - U. S. A.: Research scientist A co-recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Elion helped create drugs to combat leukemia, herpes, and autoimmune disorders. As a female, she couldn't find lab work until WWII created opportunities for women. Links: www.greatwomen.org/elion.htm www.invent.org/book/book-text/39.html www.inventorsmuseum.com/GertrudeElion.htm Resources: 4, 23, 27, 34 KATSUKO SARUHASHI (b. 1920) - Japan: Geologist/Chemist The first woman member of Japan's Science Council, Saruhashi gathered evidence that persuaded the U. S. and the Soviet Union to give up above-ground nuclear testing. Named in her honor, the Saruhashi Prize is given each year to a Japanese woman for her contributions to the natural sciences. Resources: 44		WIST Home Career Development Profiles of Women in Science & Technology News & Resources Relevant to Women in Science and Technology WIST Miniconvention at the 2000 APA Convention

© 2008 American Psychological Association
Science Directorate
750 First Street, NE • Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-6000 • TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123
Fax: 202-336-5953 • E-mail
PsychNET® | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Security | Advertise with us