Eggplant.place

91d

New Quarter Honors Vera Rubin, Astronomer Who Revealed the Universe’s Hidden Mass

Astronomer Vera Rubin, now honored on a U.S. quarter, transformed our understanding of the universe by uncovering powerful evidence of dark matter.

By Gabrielle Stewart

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-american-womens-history-museum/2025/06/09/new-quarter-honors-vera-rubin-astronomer-who-revealed-the-universes-hidden-mass/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

#astronomy #womeninStem

Vera Rubin looking through a telescope at Vassar College.

https://repository.aip.org/vera-rubin-looking-through-telescope-vassar-college

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175d

A Lab of Her Own

In her bedroom during WWII, she discovered how the nervous system is wired. On a cold, dry Tuesday in December, 1940, Rita Levi-Montalcini rode a train from the station near her home in Turin, Italy, for 80 miles to Milan to buy a microscope.

BY BOB GOLDSTEIN

https://nautil.us/a-lab-of-her-own-238363/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nautilus-newsletter

#medicine #womeninStem

Rita Levi-Montalcini, c. 1975. Image courtesy of the Bernard Becker Medical Library, Washington University School of Medicine.

She is pictured in formal attire, exuding elegance and intellectual presence. Her expression is calm, confident, and composed, with a gentle, knowing smile.

Her hair is neatly styled in soft waves, swept back in a classic mid-20th-century fashion.

She wears a single-strand pearl necklace and a dark jacket, adorned with two brooches—one featuring a floral motif and the other a geometric design.

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136d

Rachel Carson Raised the Alarm About Pesticides in Silent Spring, Changing Environmental History

The influential biologist's work helped launch the modern environmental movement.

By Lloyd Black

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/rachel-carson-pesticides-silent-spring-history

#environment #womeninStem

Rachel Carson in 1943.

Carson is seated with a composed and thoughtful demeanor. Her gaze is calm, directed either slightly off-camera or gently toward it, reflecting her quiet intensity and deep connection to the natural world.

She wears a simple, neat suit jacket or blouse typical of 1940s professional attire for women — modest, functional, and elegant, suggesting both professionalism and practicality.

Her hair is styled in soft waves, carefully arranged, in keeping with the fashion of the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson#/media/File:Rachel-Carson.jpg

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89d

The hunt for Marie Curie's radioactive fingerprints in Paris

Marie Curie worked with radioactive material with her bare hands. More than 100 years after her groundbreaking work, Sophie Hardach travels to Paris to trace the lingering radioactive fingerprints she left behind.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250605-the-hunt-for-marie-curies-radioactive-fingerprints-in-paris?at_campaign_type=owned&at_medium=emails&at_objective=awareness&at_ptr_type=email&at_ptr_name=salesforce&at_campaign=essentiallist&at_email_send_date=20250613&at_send_id=4384678&at_link_title=https%3a%2f%2fwww.bbc.com%2ffuture%2farticle%2f20250605-the-hunt-for-marie-curies-radioactive-fingerprints-in-paris&at_bbc_team=crm

Marie Curie at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39174

#books #womeninStem

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143d

#OnThisDay, 20 Apr 1902, Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie refine radium chlorine. The discovery leads to Marie being the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.

The Academy originally planned to award only Pierre and Henri Becquerel. Pierre insisted that Marie should also be included.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomenInSTEM #NobelWomen #Histodons

Maria Skłodowska-Curie in a posed photo in her lab. She's a white woman with dark hair, holding a glass flask and a metal or ceramic dish.

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124d

#OnThisDay, 9 May 1922, the International Astronomical Union formally adopts Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system. The principles in it still underpin modern classification.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Astronomy #WomenInSTEM #AmericanHistory #Histodons

Annie Jump Cannon sat at a desk. She is clearly not a fan of a clear desk policy as it's messy with papers and open drawers. She is a white woman with pale hair.

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Edited 124d ago

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121d

"I used to say the evening that I developed the first x-ray photograph I took of insulin in 1935 was the most exciting moment of my life. But the Saturday afternoon in late July 1969, when we realized that the insulin electron density map was interpretable, runs that moment very close."
'X Rays and the Structure of Insulin', British Medical Journal, 1971

Happy Birthday Dorothy Hodgkin!

More information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Hodgkin

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1964/hodgkin/biographical/

#womeninStem

Dorothy Mary Hodgkin (12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994)

The photograph of Dorothy Mary Hodgkin by the Nobel Prize Foundation shows the renowned British chemist with a composed and thoughtful expression, seated in a modest setting that reflects her academic background.

Hodgkin, awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is typically seen in professional attire, with her signature calm demeanor, emphasizing her role as a pioneering scientist in the field of X-ray crystallography.

Unknown - http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1964/

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97d

#OnThisDay, 5 Jun 1833, Ada Lovelace meets Charles Babbage, triggering their collaboration on the Analytical Engine and writing the first published program.

Image by Sydney Padua

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #WomenInSTEM #Histodons

A frame from a comic strip. Ada Lovelace is excitedly saying "this must be twittered!", then thinking "wait, this is a fan". Then thinking "suddenly there is a gaping hole in my life of which I was hiterto unaware".

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59d

From ATP to MRI: Mildred Cohn's Pioneering Work in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

By Dale DeBakcsy

https://www.wisarchive.com/post/from-atp-to-mri-mildred-cohn-s-pioneering-work-in-nuclear-magnetic-resonance

#WomenInStem #Science

Photo of Mildred Cohn. University of Pennsylvania Archives.

Cohn appears engaged in thought or working, with laboratory glassware visible in the surroundings, emphasizing her role as a pioneering researcher. Her expression is calm and focused.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Cohn#/media/File:Mildred_Cohn.jpg

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53d

The Queer Relationship That Powered Rachel Carson’s Nature Writing

Lida Maxwell on Dorothy Freeman, “Silent Spring,” and Rejecting Heteronormativity

https://lithub.com/the-queer-relationship-that-powered-rachel-carsons-nature-writing/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01K0EQMPKQJXBEKA4HN9E56EN4&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Nature study at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/6921

#environment #nature #WomenInStem #LGBTQ

Biologist Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964) began her career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but achieved fame and social influence with publication of such popular books as The Sea Around Us (1951) and Silent Spring (1962).

Rachel Carson is shown in her mature years, likely in the late 1950s or early 1960s. She appears calm, focused, and introspective. Her hair is neatly set, and she wears modest professional attire.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rachel_Carson#/media/File:Rachel_Louise_Carson.jpg

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70d

Happy birthday to #physicist Harriet Brooks (1876 - 1933) who discovered atomic recoil, Radon & recognized radioactive elements could undergo chains of transmutations into a series of new elements. #nuclear #physics⁠
⁠
She was Rutherford’s 1st grad student at McGill. After publishing her results in 1899 she completed her MSc in 1901 on “Damping of Electrical Oscillations,” before embarking on #radioactivity research.⁠ 🧵
⁠ #linocut #printmaking #sciart #womenInSTEM #histsci

My 9.25" x 12.5" linocut portrait of physicist Harriet Brooks (1876 - 1933) in a gradient of turquoise to green, shows her and her discovery of atomic recoil in gold (Radon gives off an alpha particle and daughter nucleus goes in opposite direction). A series of diagrams at the bottom shows how the Rutherford research group understood chains of radioactive active transmutations at the time.

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36d

#OnThisDay, 5 Aug 1888, Bertha Benz drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim: the first journey of 100+km in a car by *anyone*.

She'd got tired of her husband tinkering with his prototype so took it on the road with her sons. And without him.

Along the way, she made running repairs to the engine and realised there would need to be refueling stations.

#WomenInSTEM #EuropeanHistory #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #Histodons

studio photo of Bertha Benz. She is a white woman with dark hair.

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The Mk3 Benz Patent-Motorwagen - the first practical motor car. It's like a pram with an engine on it.

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31d

Lise Meitner: The Forgotten Mother of Nuclear Fission

Of the 15 elements on the periodic table that honor scientists, only one and a half are named after women.

Science is the story of discoveries but sometimes credit isn’t given when it is due. How many women discoverers can you name?

By Eva Kellner B.A.Sc

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/student-contributors-history-general-science/lise-meitner-forgotten-mother-nuclear-fission

Nuclear fission at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=nuclear+fission

#womeninstem

Lise Meitner (1946)

Smithsonian Institution - Flickr: Lise Meitner (1878-1968), lecturing at Catholic University, Washington, D.C., 1946.

Lise Meitner is seen in the midst of delivering a lecture. Her posture appears engaged and deliberate—she may be gesturing, holding notes, or pointing toward unseen lecture materials. She is dressed in period-appropriate attire, likely a blouse and dark jacket, conveying a professional and composed appearance.

In 1938, Austrian-born physicist Lise Meitner (1878-1968) fled Germany and eventually became a Swedish citizen. After World War II, Meitner received many awards, including being named "Woman of the Year" at the National Press Club in 1946. She was a Visiting Professor of Physics at Catholic University during Spring 1946. In a press release associated with her arrival, Dr. Meitner emphasized that her goal was "wholly educational": "I have no intention to suggest how atomic energy should be controlled, beyond expressing my sincere hope that no occasion will again arise where it will be utilized in war. A lasting peace is more desirable than the creation of weapons which might lead to the extermination of mankind."

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lise_Meitner#/media/Datei:Lise_Meitner_(1878-1968),_lecturing_at_Catholic_University,_Washington,_D.C.,_1946.jpg

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30d

Maria Mitchell: America’s First Woman Astronomer and Mentor to Women in Science

As Vassar College’s first astronomy professor, Maria Mitchell advanced opportunities for women in science and mentored a generation of students using one of the country’s finest observatories.

By Deb Warner

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-american-womens-history-museum/2025/08/08/maria-mitchell-americas-first-woman-astronomer-and-mentor-to-women-in-science/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Maria Mitchell at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3377

#Astronomy #womenInStem

$Postcard showing a woman sitting on the observing chair in front of a large refracting telescope. The accompanying text reads, “Prof. Maria Mitchell in the Observatory at Vassar College. June 1878.” The back is divided, with space for the address on the right and space for a message on the left. It is marked “Printed in Germany for Henry S. Wyer, Nantucket, Mass., U.S.A. No. 582” and indicates that a 1¢ stamp is required for domestic use and a 2¢ stamp for foreign use. Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) was America’s first woman astronomer, America’s first woman scientist of note, and the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Henry Sherman Wyer (1847-1920) was a photographer from Nantucket who published many of the earliest postcards of that island community. He was also active in the Nantucket Historical Society and the Maria Mitchell Association. While the photograph on this postcard was taken in 1878, the postcard was published between March 1, 1907, (when postcards with a divided back were first permitted in the U.S.) and 1917 (when the domestic postage for a postcard was raised to 2¢). https://www.si.edu/object/postcard:nmah_1372087$

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