Mary Somerville, a Scottish scientist died #OTD in 1872. Her most famous work, The Mechanism of the Heavens (1831), was a translation and expansion of Laplace's Traité de mécanique céleste.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville
American admiral and computer scientist, (designed COBOL) Grace Hopper was born #OTD in 1906.
She created the first compiler, the A-0 System, in 1952. She was also one of the first programmers on the Harvard Mark I computer. Hopper popularized the term "debugging" in computing after discovering an actual moth causing a malfunction in the Mark II computer.
Mária Telkes died #OTD in 1980. She was a Hungarian-American biophysicist, engineer, & inventor who worked on solar energy technologies.
During World War II, she developed a solar water distillation device, deployed at the end of the war, which saved the lives of downed airmen and torpedoed sailors. In the 1940s she and architect Eleanor Raymond created one of the first solar-heated houses, Dover Sun House, by storing energy each day.
American educator and zoologist Cornelia Clapp died #OTD in 1934.
Clapp was a pioneering zoology researcher and leading ichthyology scholar. Her work on the toadfish was instrumental in correcting the idea that its egg was attached by a "sucker" to the yolk stalk, as she discovered that it was instead adhered with a disc of "transparent secretion" that could be separated from the membrane.
Jean Sammet: An Accidental Computer Programmer
The IBM programming language specialist helped develop Cobol in 1959
By Amanda Davis
https://spectrum.ieee.org/jean-sammet-accidental-computer-programmer
#OnThisDay, 26 Dec 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced their discovery of radium.
In 1903, Marie, Pierre and Henri Becquerel received the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on radiation. Marie was the first woman to receive the award.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #WomensHistory #WomenInSTEM #NobelWomen #Histodons
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Irish astronomer Agnes Mary Clerke died #OTD in 1907.
During her career she wrote reviews of many books, including some written in French, German, Greek, or Italian. In 1885, she published her best known work, A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century. This book became commonly used for its discussion of the spectroscope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Mary_Clerke
Books about or by Agnes Mary Clerke at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Agnes+Mary+Clerke&submit_search=Search
Austrian-born American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr died #OTD in 2000.
Lamarr wanted to aid the Allied forces during World War II. She shared her concept for using “frequency hopping” with the U.S. Navy and codeveloped a patent with Antheil 1941. Today, her innovation helped make possible a wide range of wireless communications technologies, including Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.
Below, U.S. patent 2,292,387 granted on August 11, 1942, under her legal name Hedy Kiesler Markey.
What Role Did Women Play in the Scientific Revolution?
The Scientific Revolution was characterized by a major shift in the way of thinking. Historically, women’s contributions, however, were largely overlooked.
By Mike Cohen
https://www.thecollector.com/role-of-women-in-scientific-revolution/
Danish seismologist and geophysicist Inge Lehmann died #OTD in 1993.
She is best known for her discovery in 1936 of the solid inner core that exists within the molten outer core of the Earth. The seismic discontinuity in the speed of seismic waves at depths between 190 and 250 km is named the Lehmann discontinuity after her. Lehmann is considered to be a pioneer among women and scientists in seismology research.
Katherine Johnson died #OTD in 2020.
Her work included calculating trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those for astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn, and rendezvous paths for the Apollo Lunar Module and command module on flights to the Moon. Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars.
American philosopher and psychologist Mary Whiton Calkins died #OTD in 1930.
Calkins' work informed theory and research of memory, dreams and the self. In 1903, Calkins was the twelfth in a listing of fifty psychologists with the most merit, chosen by her peers. Calkins was refused a Ph.D. by Harvard University because of her gender.
8 women botanical artists from across Europe
Making contributions to both art and science
by Aleksandra Strzelichowska (from the archives) via @europeana
https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/8-women-botanical-artists-from-across-europe
How Noether’s Theorem Revolutionized Physics
Emmy Noether showed that fundamental physical laws are just a consequence of simple symmetries. A century later, her insights continue to shape physics.
By Shalma Wegsman
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-noethers-theorem-revolutionized-physics-20250207/
More information about Noether's theorem:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noether%27s_theorem
The female explorers who braved the wilderness but were overlooked by the history books
By Sarah Lonsdale
Books by Mina Benson Hubbard at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1422
"My methods are really methods of working and thinking; this is why they have crept in everywhere anonymously."
Happy Birthday Emmy Noether!!
She made many important contributions to abstract algebra. She proved Noether's 1st and 2nd theorems, which are fundamental in mathematical physics. She developed theories of rings, fields, & algebras. In physics, Noether's theorem explains the connection between symmetry & conservation laws.
Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life
A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of alien mathematical realms.
By Kristina Armitage
American mathematician and aerospace engineer Mary Jackson died #OTD in 2005.
She worked at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for most of her career. She started as a computer engineer at the segregated West Area Computing division in 1951. In 1958, after taking engineering classes, she became NASA's first black female engineer.
Seeing dark matter in the Andromeda galaxy
By Vera Rubin, from the archives, via @physicstoday
This is a story of why and how Kent Ford and I studied the orbital velocities of stars in the Andromeda galaxy 40 years ago. Our study was influential in the later conclusion that most of the matter in the universe is dark.
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/59/12/8/387114/Seeing-dark-matter-in-the-Andromeda-galaxy
If Only 19th-Century America Had Listened to a Woman Scientist
Where might the US be if it heeded her discovery of global warming’s source?
By Sidney Perkowitz (from the archives)
Now more than ever is a great time to be reminded of the powerful work of Margaret Morgan Lawrence (1914-2019) & honor her extraordinary legacy.
Decades before "social determinants of health" was coined, she spoke of "nature, nurture and noxia"
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How Alice Hamilton Waged a One-Woman Campaign to Get the Lead Out of Everything
At first a crusader for workplace safety, the trained physician railed against the use of the toxic and ubiquitous material
By Daniel Stone
More information about Alice Hamilton:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Hamilton
Edits to Vera Rubin’s Biography Downplay the Need for Women in Science Amid Federal DEI Crackdown
To comply with Trump's executive order about DEI, a federally funded telescope project has altered the biography of its namesake astronomer.
By Passant Rabie
The Talented and Valiant Female Surgeon Who Joined Allied Forces in WWII and Broke Barriers Along the Way
Prohibited from serving with the U.S. Army as a medical officer, Barbara Stimson was commissioned by the British—and helped open the American military to female doctors.
By Catherine Musemeche
More information about Barbara Stimson:
https://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/distinguished-alumni/barbara-stimson/
"I’m only sorry I couldn’t have had as good a chance as a boy, and have been put to my trade regularly."
American inventor Margaret E. Knight was born #OTD in 1838.
She founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870, creating paper bags for groceries similar in form to the ones that would be used in later generations. Knight received dozens of patents in different fields and became a symbol for women's empowerment.
![Portrait of Emmy Noether, around 1900.
Unknown author Publisher: Mathematical Association of America [3], Brooklyn Museum [4], Agnes Scott College [5], [6] - Emmy Noether (1882-1935), Archived
The photograph shows Noether as a poised young woman, reflecting the academic environment of the era. Dressed in period attire typical of the late 19th to early 20th century, she appears composed and introspective, a visual contrast to the intellectual revolution she would later ignite in mathematics.](/proxy/post_attachment/656703/c37623fa20.jpg "Portrait of Emmy Noether, around 1900.
Unknown author Publisher: Mathematical Association of America [3], Brooklyn Museum [4], Agnes Scott College [5], [6] - Emmy Noether (1882-1935), Archived
The photograph shows Noether as a poised young woman, reflecting the academic environment of the era. Dressed in period attire typical of the late 19th to early 20th century, she appears composed and introspective, a visual contrast to the intellectual revolution she would later ignite in mathematics.")
