SCIENTIFIC AND INVENTIVE SUPERSTARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

They did it, So can you!

1. FLORENCE BASCOM (1862-1945) Geologist. She was the first woman and the first geologist to be awarded a PhD from John Hopkins University, although as a woman she could not officially attend classes (her seat was placed behind a screen). In 1896, she became the first woman scientist hired at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and pioneered the use of microscopes in the study of minerals and rocks.

2. ELIZABETH BLACKWELL (1821-1910) Physician. After she became the first woman doctor in the United States, no hospital would admit her. She then brought her own house and established a small dispensary which expanded to become the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.

3. HELEN AGUSTA BLANCHARD (1840-1922) Inventor. She registered 12 patents for various types of sewing machines: the Blanchard over-seaming machine (precursor of the modern zigzag sewing machine), a device for simultaneous sewing and trimming on knitted fabrics, and a crocheting and sewing machine. Her inventions were used in large textile factories and were ranked among the most remarkable mechanical devices of the age.

4. MARY BUNTING (1910- ) Microbiologist. She is known for discoveries of the effect of radiation on bacteria and became the first woman member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

5. EALENOR MARGARET BURGIDGE (1919- ) Astronomer. As the first woman Royal Astronomer, she directed the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England.

6. ANNIE JUMP CANNON (1863-1941) Astronomer. Called the “census taker of the sky,” she classified about 400,000 stellar bodies according to their temperature.

7. RACHEL CARSON (1907-1964) Marine Biologist. Her writings brought to public attention the destructive effects of pesticides, resulting in curtailment of their use, and in stronger efforts to develop natural biological controls for harmful insects.

8. EUGENIE CLARK (1922- ) Marine Biologist. Through studying the nature and behavior of sharks, she has been able to teach them to choose between targets of different designs and colors.

9. JEWEL PLUMMER COBB (1924- ) Cell Physiologist. Her early research led to new discoveries concerning normal and malignant pigment cells. Interested in helping to solve the puzzle of cancer, she undertook many research projects for the National Cancer Institute. In 1981, she became the first black woman college president in the 19-college California State University System.

10. IRENE JOLIOT-CURIE (1897-1956) Physicist. She was awarded the Nobel Chemistry Prize for discovering a technique for making artificial radioactive elements.

11. REATHA CLARK KING (1938- ) Research Chemist. One of only two black graduate students at the time, she earned her master and doctorate degrees in chemistry at the University of Chicago, specializing in high temperature chemistry. She later became a college administrator, supporting programs for women and minorities.

12. RITA LEVI-MONTALGINI (1909- ) Biologist. Pursued her research on the growth of nerve fibers. In a secret laboratory at home she studied chicken embryos to determine the effect that amputation of limbs has on the nervous system. There she discovered the “trophic factor” that causes nerve fibers to spread. She was a co-recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in medicine for the discoveries of MGF and of EGF (epidermal growth factor), used in the treatment of severe burns.

13. BARBARA McCLINTOCK (1902-1992) Biochemist. She received the 1983 Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology for her discovery that genes can move from one spot to another on the chromosomes of a plant, thus changing future generations of plants.

14. ELSIE GREGORY MacGILL (1905- ) Aeronautical Engineer. She was the first woman to become chief aeronautical engineer of any company and is known internationally for her work on engineering designs of fighter and transport aircraft.

15. MARGARET MEAD (1901-1978) Anthropologist. She was one of the first to do field work in the island of the Southwest Pacific and to bring back eyewitness accounts of the native cultures and peoples of New Guinea, Samoa and Fiji.

16. MARIA MITCHELL (1818-1899) Astronomer. Self-taught, she discovered a comet that was named for her, and became professor of Astronomy at Vassar College.

17. AMY NOETHER (1882-1935) Mathematician. Professor of Mathematics at Bryn Mawr, she discovered many methods of great importance to abstract algebra and was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

18. ELLEN OCHOA (1958- ) Electrical Engineer/Astronaut. Her doctoral work in electrical engineering led to a patented optical system to detect defects in a repeating pattern. She developed an optical system to recognize objects regardless of their position (used in robotic manufacturing). Her first space shuttle flight was in April 1993 on a mission to study the Earth’s ozone layer.

19. JENNIE R. PATRICK (1949- ) Chemical Engineer. The first black woman in the United States to earn a doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering, she does research on energy conservation and pollution control. As a role model, she encourages young people to develop their own potential and establish their own goals.

20. OLIVE C. HAZLETT (1890-1974) Mathematician. With a PhD from University of Chicago (1915), Dr. Olive Hazlett is cited as having been “the most prolific of all the American women working in mathematics before 1940.” Her professors called her “one of the two most noted women in America in the field of mathematics.”

21. BEULAH LOUISE HENRY (1887-?) Inventor. Known as “the Lady Edison” for the staggering diversity of her inventions, she had more than 45 patents, founded manufacturing companies to produce several of the items she invented. She patented items as diverse as a doll with bendable arms and legs, a removable umbrella cover, a vacuum ice cream freezer, a doll with a radio inside, and a typewriter attachment that makes up to four copies at one time without carbon paper.

22. BEATRICE HICKS (1919- ) Electrical Engineer. In 1960’s she was the only black woman engineer at Western Electric. She received the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award for her theoretical study and analysis of sensing devices under extreme environmental conditions. She is a graduate of Newark College of Engineering (now N.J.I.T.).

23. LUCY HOBBS (1833-1910) Dentist. The first woman to earn a dental degree in the United States, she developed one of the most extensive practices in Kansas.

24. DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN (1910-1994) Crystallographer. She was awarded the Nobel Chemistry Prize in 1964 for determining the crystal structure of biomedical compounds, particularly penicillin.

25. LETA STETTER HOLLINGWORTH (1886-1939) Educational Psychologist. She discovered two myths about women: that their mental and motor abilities decreased during the menstrual period, and that there was a biological base for the differences between men’s and women’s intellects. She earned an M.A. in education and sociology from Columbia University, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Columbia.

26. GRACE MURRAY HOPPER (1906-1992) U.S. Naval Officer, Inventor. She is the inventor of the computer language COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language), for which she received the 1983 American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundations Achievement Award.

27. IDA HYDE (1857-1945) Physiologist. She became the first woman to do research at the Harvard Medical School. Her invention of the microelectrode in 1921 revolutionized neurophysiology.

28. SHIRLEY JACKSON (1946- ) Physicist. The first black woman to graduate in Theoretical Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she works at Bell Laboratories using computers and mathematical formulas to explore physics. She was a visiting scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.

29. JACQUELINE COCHRAN (1906- ) Pilot. First woman to break the sound barrier in 1953 while flying a North American Canadair F-86 over Royers Dry Lake, California at a speed of 652.337 miles per hour, she was also the first woman to win the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race. During World War II, she directed the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots.

30. GERTY CORI (1896-1957) Biochemist, Physician. The first woman to receive the Nobel prize for Medicine/Physiology, she carried out research into carbohydrate metabolism, the method by which the body uses its fuel supply of starches and sugars, and the relation of this mechanism to certain hormone secretions.

31. MARIE CURIE (1867-1934) Chemist. The first person ever to receive two Nobel awards, Physics in 1903, and Chemistry in 1911, she won the prizes for her discovery of radium and her researches into radioactivity.

32. AMELIA EARHART (1898-1937) Aviator. The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, she set many aviation records, including the long distance ones, such as that of flying from Hawaii to California.

33. GERTRUDE B. ELION (1918- ) Medical Researcher. In 1988, she shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for pioneering work in developing medications to treat leukemia and cancer. With her collaborator, Elion created a series of drugs that block the growth and reproduction of cancer cells and harmful organisms without destroying normal cells.

34. DIAN FOSSEY (1932-1985) Primatologist. For 18 years she studied and befriended the gorillas in Rwanda, Africa, while protecting them from poachers and neglect. In 1976, she received her PhD in Zoology from Cambridge University based on her pioneering research.

35. SALLY VRESEIS FOX (1955- ) Research Biologist. She developed several varieties of commercially usable, naturally colored cotton. She succeeded in breeding cotton fibers long and strong enough for the commercial textiles industry. She is now president of Natural Cotton Colors, Inc., producing cotton for Levi’s and Esprit clothing.

36. LILLAIAN GILBRETH (1878-1972) Industrial Engineer. She charted was to save energy and human motion in the office, factory, hospital, and home. She also had 12 children!

37. MARIA GOEPPERT-MAYER (1906-1972) Physicist. She received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1963; during World War II, she worked on isotope separation for the atomic bomb.

38. JANE GOODALL (1934- ) Animal Behaviorist. Living for long periods of time in the field, her studies were the first to show chimpanzees are intelligent, social animals.

39. MARY ENGLE PENNINGTON (1872-1952) Inventor. She developed a system using both insulation and ice beds to conserve and circulate cold air inside train cars. She patented an air-conditioning system for food cold storage rooms that successfully controlled the humidity of the air, regulated air flow, and insured temperature uniformity.

40. SUSAN LAFLESCHE PICOTTE (1865-1915) Physician. Born on the Omaha Reservation this Native American woman attended the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, and returned to serve her people’s medical needs. She later became the leader of the Omahas and represented interests in Washington.

41. JUDITH RESNIK (1949-1986) Electrical Engineer, Astronaut. Before her tragic death in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, she had always been drawn to solving problems and discovering new frontiers. The space program of NASA provided the perfect avenue for her talents and insatiable curiosity. In 1978, she joined NASA as one of the first 6 women ever to enter the U.S. space program, and on August 30th, 1984 she became the second American woman ever to fly in space. On the six-day Discovery mission.

42. SALLY KRISTEN RIDE (1951- ) Astronaut. Graduate of Stanford University with a PhD in physics, she was the first American woman to go into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger as a flight engineer for nearly six days.

43. FLORENCE SABIN (1871-1953) Physician. She was one of the first women to enter medical research. She determined the origin of red corpuscles and did important research on tuberculosis.

44. MARGARET SANGER (1883-1966) Public Health Nurse. A pioneer in birth control, she fought for the right of women to have access to birth control and was one of the founders of Planned Parenthood.

45. SUSAN SMITH McKINNEY STEWARD (1847-1918) Physician. She was the first black woman to receive her MD from the New York Medical College for Women. She helped to found a hospital for treatment of “indisposed” shop girls.

46. ELLEN SWALLOW RICHARDS (1842-1911) Chemist. The first woman to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she was the founder of home economics as a science and profession.

47. HARRIET WILLIAMS STRONG (1844-1926) Agricultural Scientist. She registered patents on flood control/water storage dams and irrigation systems she had invented for the use in the Los Angeles area. The dams in her system were designed so that the water trapped behind one would help support the next higher dam, using the pressure of the water itself for structural support and ensuring safety in case of a break.

48. VALENTINA TERESHKOVA (1937- ) Cosmonaut. A Russian textile worker, she learned to parachute and eventually entered the space program. She is the first woman to orbit the Earth in space.

49. VALERIE THOMAS (1943- ) Physicist. She worked as a mathematical data analyst for NASA. She managed the development of the image-processing system for Landsat, the first satellite to send images from outer space, which was then used to study the Earth’s resources.

50. ADAH BELLE THOMS (1864-1943) Nurse. She was the first Black person to hold an administrative position in New York City’s Lincoln School for Nurses. She played an important role in guiding the progress of Black women in the field of nursing.

51. ANN TSUKAMOTO (1952- ) Molecular Biologist. Her interest in molecular biology and cell biology has evolved into research career with a specialization in hematopoiesis. She now directs research programs focuses on stem cell growth factors, stem cell and megakaryocyte progenitor cell biology, and megakaryocyte growth factors.

52. ANNA PELL WHEELER (1883-1966) Mathematician. She was the second woman to receive her PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago. Before World War II, her training as mainly in analysis, and for over 20 years, her work centered in “linear algebra of infinitely many variables,” a branch of mathematics that was just emerging as a distinct area, and today is known as functional analysis.

53. CHIEN-SHIUMG WU (1912- ) Physicist. She made important contributions to the research of nuclear forces and structures; in particular, she helped to prove the principle of parity unacceptable.

54. ROSALYN S. YALOW (1921- ) Nuclear Physicist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1977 for the discovery of radioimmunoassay, a method of measuring minute concentrations of hundreds of substances in body tissues. It is invaluable in determining the differences between diseased and normal states of body tissues.

Women inventors have set the standard for all of us to achieve. By offering this list my hope is that you are inspired to reach your highest potential. If you have an idea, go for it! You may find like they did that you can do it. - Yvonne F. Brown