The Impact of Women in Science

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The Impact of Women in Science

• How women have overcome many obstacles to advance
  scientific knowledge

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Elizabeth Blackwell

• (1821 1910)
• First woman to obtain a medical
• degree in the United States
• Admitted because students believed
• the application was a joke from rival
• medical school
• Was at first banned from certain areas
• of the school, because she was
• a woman
• Eventually earned respect of fellow
• students and community

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Dr. Lise Meitner

• (1878-1968)
• Discovered and named the
• process of nuclear fission
• This led to the creation of the
• atomic bomb
• Dr. Meitner refused to be
• involved with the bomb project
• Passed over for Nobel Prize,
• Given only to her male partner

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Ellen Swallow Richards

• (1842-1911)
• First woman to attend MIT
• Pioneered water sanitation
• Began air and water conservation
• by introducing field of Sanitary
• Engineering

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Marie Curie

• (1867-1934)
• Studied radioactivity
• Discovered elements
• Polonium and Radium
• First woman to win
• Nobel Prize
• First and only person to
• win Nobel Prize in two
• sciences
• (Physics Chemistry)

With President Harding after being presented with
a gram of radium on behalf of the women of America
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Margaret Mead

• (1901-1978)
• Leading Anthropologist
• Studied cultures around
• the world
• Promoted controversial
• topics, such as legalizing
• marijuana
• Regarded as vocal
• commentator on modern
• American life

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For more information on these and other Important
women in history, visit the Library of Congress
website at http//www.loc.gov