When most people hear the word scientist, they will think of a white-coated, crazy haired, spectacled… man. Women scientists have played a long and distinguished role within the world of science, being at the forefront of groundbreaking developments in scientific thought. It is a role which is often overlooked. These vintage photographs from the Smithsonian Institute show some of the brilliant women scientists that you should keep in mind the next time you hear the word.
Annie Jump Cannon (1863 – 1941) was hired by the Harvard College Observatory to carry out astronomical calculations. By the end of her life she had become one of the country’s premier astronomers, know for her groundbreaking work on variable stars.
Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) carried out pioneering work in the field of radioactivity. She was the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize for science, going on to win a second Nobel before her death, and the first woman to be awarded a professorship at the University of Paris.
Elizabeth Caroline Crosby (1888 -1983) specialized in the anatomy of the brain, was the first woman to be awarded a full professorship at the University of Michigan Medical School. She went on to win the National Medal of Science in 1979.
Katherine J. Scott Bishop (1889 – 1976) trained as an anatomist at John Hopkins School of Medicine, graduating in 1915. She went on to work with Herbert M. Evans, discovering the importance of Vitamin E.
Taken in 1963, this photo shows Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906 – 1972) being escorted by the king of Sweden following a ceremony in which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for her work developing a model of atomic nuclei in which protons and neutrons are arranged in concentric shells.
Rachel Louise Carson (1907 – 1964) was a biologist who began her career with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. She later published in popular scientific books such as The Sea Around Us in 1951 and the classic Silent Spring in 1962.
Image via: Flickr
