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- Jone Johnson Lewis
- Joy Adamson (Jan. 20, 1910-Jan. 3, 1980) Joy Adamson was a noted conservationist and author who lived in Kenya in the 1950s. After her husband, a game warden, shot and killed a lioness, Adamson rescued one of the orphaned cubs.
- Maria Agnesi (May 16, 1718-Jan. 9, 1799) Maria Agnesi wrote the first mathematics book by a woman that still survives and was a pioneer in the field of calculus.
- Agnodice (4th century BCE) Agnodice (sometimes known as Agnodike) was a physician and gynecologist practicing in Athens. Legend has it that she had to dress as a man because it was illegal for women to practice medicine.
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (June 9, 1836-Dec. 17, 1917) Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to successfully complete the medical qualifying exams in Great Britain and the first woman physician in Great Britain.
- Ada Lovelace, Mathematician. Dec. 10, 1815-Nov. 27, 1852. Lovelace is regarded as the first computer programmer — long before modern computers were invented.
- Marie Curie, Physicist and Chemist. Nov. 7, 1867-July 4, 1934. Chief among Curie’s many achievements include discovering radioactivity and inventing a mobile X-ray unit that was employed during World War I. With her husband, Pierre, Curie also discovered the radioactive elements polonium and radium — and developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes.
- Janaki Ammal, Botanist. Nov. 4, 1897-Feb. 7, 1984. As India’s first female plant scientist, Ammal developed several hybrid species still grown today. She also advocated for protecting the biodiversity of India.
- Chien-Shiung Wu, Physicist. May 31, 1912-Feb. 16, 1997. Wu was the first scientist to confirm — and later refine — Enrico Fermi’s theory of radioactive beta decay.
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Here's our alphabetical list of the most popular female scientists on the Famous Scientists website. Mary Anning 1799 – 1847. Ancient animals, fossils, and paleontology: discovered the first complete specimen of a plesiosaur; deduced the diets of dinosaurs. Elizabeth Blackwell 1821 – 1910.
- Caroline Herschel, Astronomer
- Marie Curie, Physicist
- Alice Ball, Chemist
- Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Astrophysicist
- Barbara Mcclintock, Geneticist
- Maria Goeppert Mayer, Physicist
- Katherine Johnson, Mathematician
- Rosalind Franklin, Chemist
- Chien-Shiung Wu, Physicist
- Jane Cooke Wright, Oncologist
Caroline Herschel‘s path to astronomy began when she left her native Germany to live with her brother William Herschelin England. Though her mother had attempted to stifle her education, Herschel was naturally curious and began to cultivate an interest in astronomy alongside her brother. Though she began by helping him mount telescopes and record h...
Any list of incredible female scientists would be severely lacking without the inclusion of the iconic Marie Curie. Her achievements as a physicist go well beyond her gender, though she continues to inspire generations of female scientists. Not only did Curie discover two elements—radium and polonium—but she also coined the word radioactivity. She ...
Though Alice Ballonly lived to the age of 24, her legacy is enduring. As an undergraduate studying pharmaceutical chemistry, she was already breaking barriers. During that time, she published an article alongside her male professor in a respected scientific journal, which was a rare feat for a woman and an even rarer feat for an African American wo...
There was a time when the world wasn't sure what stars were made of. But thanks to the work of Cecilia Payne-Gaposckin, we all know that they are composed of helium and hydrogen. Even more impressive than this discovery is the fact that the British American astrophysicist made the statement when she was just a doctoral student in 1925. Though the c...
From cancer research to genetic engineering, the discoveries of American geneticist Barbara McClintockhave had far-reaching effects. McClintock studied botany and was fascinated by new discoveries in DNA. She did a deep dive into the genetics of maize and realized that chromosomes were responsible for passing down hereditary traits. She also discov...
German American physicist Maria Goeppert Mayerwas only the second woman after Marie Curie to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. She took home the award in 1963, along with two male colleagues, for her work on the structure of nuclear shells. For all her talent, Goeppert Mayer often worked unpaid or voluntary positions at universities following her mov...
In 1953, mathematician Katherine Johnson began her legendary career at NASA as a “human computer.” As one of the first Black women to work at NASA, she broke barriers while helping the space agency achieve its goals. One of her finest achievements was calculating the flight path of Apollo 11, which allowed it to successfully land on the Moon and ma...
Though today Rosalind Franklinis heralded for her work in understanding the structure of DNA, her work was only fully appreciated after her untimely death. The English chemist worked on X-ray diffraction images of DNA that led to the correct identification of its double helix structure. Unfortunately, Franklin's life was cut short after a battle wi...
Sometimes called “the first lady of physics,” Chinese American physicist Chien-Shiung Wumade significant contributions to the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Wu came to the United States in 1936 to earn her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan with the encouragement of her advisor in China. Though she wished to return to China after her stud...
Oncologist Jane Cooke Wrightwas a pioneer in cancer research. Born into a family of doctors, Dr. Wright followed this legacy and forged a name for herself thanks to her innovations in chemotherapy and in finding new drugs to treat breast cancer. She helped make chemotherapy more widely available to the public during her time at the Cancer Research ...
Sarah Zielinski. March 24, 2009. Feedloader (Clickability) Though underrepresented in some fields, female scientists are no longer rare. That wasn’t the case for a very long time. Usually when...
Nov 29, 2016 · Blog Post, Updates. Over the last 2 weeks 500 Women Scientists has grown from a small email chain to an international group of more than 10,000 women from 90 countries (and still growing). When we set up the website to share the pledge, we selected striking photos that symbolized our pledge and the scientific community.
Aug 8, 2017 · Rosalind Franklin. English chemist Rosalind Franklin was a pioneer in the use of X-ray diffraction, taking the picture of the “B” form of DNA on a machine she herself refined, that was used by Francis Crick and James Watson (without her permission) to identify the structure of DNA.
