In 2017 Elizabeth co-wrote a book about living longer to show that genes are only part of the story. Eating healthily, exercising, and using techniques such as mindfulness to reduce stress can stop cell decay and slow down aging.
May-Britt Moser
Psychologist and Neuroscientist
(b.1963)
May-Britt grew up on a remote farm in Fosnavåg, Norway, then moved to Oslo to study psychology and neurobiology. During this time she met Edvard Moser and they married in 1985. The Mosers worked together on spatial awareness—how the brain allows us to understand where we are at any given moment. They discovered the neurons (nerve cells) that look after spatial awareness and some memory in the hippocampus, a small organ deep in the brain.
In 2014 May-Britt and Edvard were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with their mentor, American-British neuroscientist John O’Keefe. Their discovery has helped us to understand more about human memory and brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Katia Krafft
Volcanologist
(1942–91)
Katia Krafft was born in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, France. When she was 14 years old she became fascinated by volcanoes, and went on to study volcanology. At university, she met her future husband Maurice Krafft. The two shared a fearless passion for volcanoes and became the first scientists to study, film, and photograph eruptions and lava flows up close.
Katia and Maurice used their knowledge to educate communities close to volcanoes on how to stay safe. Their work, along with their predictions of volcanic eruptions, have helped to save millions of lives worldwide. Tragically, Katia and her husband were killed during the eruption of a volcano in Japan in 1991.
Maryam Mirzakhani
Mathematician
(1977–2017)
In July 2017 most Iranian newspapers made an unthinkable decision—they broke the dress code of only showing women wearing the hijab (traditional veil) and featured a woman with uncovered hair. Their front pages paid tribute to a national hero, the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhami, who had died of cancer aged 40.
Maryam was born in Tehran and her childhood was overshadowed by war. In 1979 the Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini led the Iranian Revolution, overthrowing the shah (king) and founding an Islamic republic. Then came the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), which brought hardship and huge changes to how the country was run. Later, Maryam insisted she was lucky—had she been a teenager during the war, she would have had far fewer educational opportunities.
Maryam attended a school for gifted and talented girls. At first she had no interest in mathematics and her ambition was to become a writer. Toward the end of her school years, her brother introduced her to complicated mathematical problems and their solutions. Maryam was fascinated and wanted to learn more. She obviously had a flair for mathematics and, most importantly, she really enjoyed it, too.
“The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.”
In 1994 Maryam became the first girl to represent Iran at the International Mathematical Olympiad, winning a gold for her country. She repeated this feat in 1995. She went on to study mathematics at Sharif University, Iran’s top science institution. After graduating in 1999, Maryam emigrated to the United States. She was awarded a PhD at Harvard University in 2004.
Maryam specialized in the intricate mathematics of curved surfaces. She developed formulas for finding the surface areas of increasingly complicated rounded, irregular shapes.
Although Maryam was working with incredibly difficult, abstract ideas, she took a refreshingly playful and visual approach. She often drew shapes and doodles on blackboards or pieces of paper, scribbling equations all around them. This process helped Maryam to think and move forward. She had an unusually gifted and creative mind for problem solving.
In 2014 Maryam became the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal. Given every 4 years, this is an exceptional prize for mathematicians and is similar in importance to the Nobel Prize.
Maryam’s mathematical contribution has been useful in many fields. In cosmology, her formulas have enabled physicists to explore the curved nature of the Universe. They have also furthered research and design in engineering, materials, and even computer encryption (turning information into a scrambled code).
Rosalind Franklin
Chemist and X-Ray Crystallographer
(1920–58)
Born in London, UK, Rosalind Franklin knew by the age of 15 that she wanted to be a scientist. She studied natural sciences at Newnham, one of only two Cambridge University colleges that admitted women at that time. In 1945 Rosalind left Cambridge with a PhD in physical chemistry.
Rosalind went to work at King’s College, London in 1951, after a spell in Paris learning X-ray crystallography—taking X-ray images of the atoms or molecules that make up crystals. Rosalind used the technique to “photograph” DNA, the molecule that stores our genes (instructions for life).
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”
Photo 51, Rosalind’s detailed X-ray image of DNA, helped the molecular biologists Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins identify the structure of DNA as a twisted-ladder shape, or double helix. They used Photo 51 without Rosalind’s permission, and without crediting her. In 1962 the three men won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Knowing the structure of DNA has enabled us to develop new medicines, understand illnesses better, and even grow stronger crops. Today we know how important Rosalind’s work was. Prizes, grants, laboratories, computer software, and even an asteroid have been named after her.
Jane Goodall
Primatologist, Ethologist, and Anthropologist
(b.1934)
Born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall in London, UK, Jane loved animals from an early age. Her dream was to travel to Africa to study apes.
In 1957 Jane went to work as a secretary in Kenya. She met Louis Leakey, the archeologist and paleontologist who had discovered early hominids (human ancestors). Louis set up a long-term project for Jane to study chimpanzees in their habitat in Tanzania.
Armed with binoculars and a notepad, Jane set to work. At first the chimpanzees didn’t trust her, but Jane continued to visit the same spot at the same time day after day. Eventually her patience paid off.
Jane established a unique and close relationship with the chimpanzees and was able to make groundbreaking discoveries. She reported that they had complex social lives, showed emotions such as empathy, and even used tools. Until then scientists thought that only humans used tools.
“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved.”
In the 1980s, when the chimpanzees’ habitat became endangered, Jane started campaigning to protect the apes. She has founded conservation organizations and written books that have changed the way we see ourselves as humans, as well as how we view animals. Since 2002, Jane has also served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Mary Anning
Paleontologist
(1799–1847)
To this day, the beaches and cliffs around Lyme Regis in southwestern England, UK, are known for their rich fossil finds. They are part of the Jurassic Coast, a protected area that has perfectly preserved records of prehistoric times. This was the birthplace of Mary Anning, who would go on to become one of the world’s most important paleontologists.
Mary was the oldest of ten children, though only she and her brother Joseph survived to adulthood. Their father, Richard Anning, a cabinet maker, occasionally made extra money selling fossils to tourists.
In 1810 Richard died, leaving his wife and children with debts to pay and no income. They began to collect fossils to support themselves. Mary had a particular knack for finding, extracting, and preparing them. Her mother, also called Mary, ran the business side of things. Times were hard. The Annings barely managed to get by until, in 1820, a professional fossil collector called Thomas Birch decided to help.
He sold off his own fossil specimens and gave the proceeds of the sale to the family. Thomas felt the Annings deserved a better life because of their contributions to science.
Most of Mary’s finds and sales were ammonites and belemnites—prehistoric molluscs that were common in the area. In 1811, however, the 12-year-old Mary presented London’s scientific community with its first Ichthyosaurus. She went on to find more ichthyosaurs, the first complete plesiosaur (long-necked sea reptile), and Britain’s first pterosaur (flying reptile). Mary was single-minded when she was fossil hunting and often put herself in danger. In 1833 she nearly died in a landslide that killed her dog, Tray.
“The world has used me so unkindly, I fear it has made me suspicious of everyone.”
Even though many of Mary’s specimens ended up in museums, it took a while for the mostly male scientists to give Mary any credit. They couldn’t believe that a self-taught woman had any insights worth paying attention to.
Eventually, Mary’s expertise could not be ignored. In 1838 the British Association for the Advancement of Science, along with the Geological Society of London, awarded Mary a yearly income. She was also made an unofficial member of the all-male Geological Society.
Mary changed the face of geology, established the field of paleontology, and raised important questions about Earth’s history. At the time, the Bible’s story of creation in seven days was widely accepted. Mary’s work, along with research by Charles Darwin and others, contributed to a new scientific, evidence-based theory—evolution.
Marie Curie
Chemist and Physicist
(1867–1934)
Marie Curie (born Maria Skłodowska) grew up in Warsaw, Poland. Her parents were both teachers and she was their fifth and youngest child. The family did not have much money and were even poorer after Marie’s mother died in 1878.
Polish universities did not accept women. Marie worked as a governess to support her sister, Bronisława, who was studying medicine in Paris, France, and to save up for her own fees for a French university.
Marie arrived in Paris in 1891. She took a degree in physics at the Sorbonne, then a second degree in mathematics. She met fellow scientist Pierre Curie and the two married in 1895. Marie began to study uranium rays for her PhD.
Marie and Pierre invented a device called the gold leaf electroscope which could measure the radioactivity of substances placed between the electrodes. By 1898 they had found two new radioactive elements—polonium (named after Marie’s birth country) and radium. Marie came up with the term “radioactive.” In the next few years she published many research papers, some with Pierre. She was the first woman in Europe to gain a doctorate in science.
In 1903 Marie and Pierre won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on radioactivity. They shared it with physicist Henri Becquerel, who had first seen radioactivity. The following year the Curies presented their findings on curing cancer with radiation therapy. In 1906 Pierre was tragically run over and killed by a horse-drawn cart. The Sorbonne offered his job to the heart-broken Marie. She accepted and became the university’s first female professor.
Marie had been the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. In 1911 she became the first person to be awarded two, this time in chemistry. She had developed a method for measuring radioactivity. That same year, she was made director of the Sorbonne’s new radioactivity laboratory, which had been named after her. She also ran the Institute for Radioactivity in Warsaw.
“Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.”
In World War I Marie put X-ray machines in ambulances and field hospitals. X-ray imaging at the front line sped up medical diagnosis and saved many soldiers’ lives.
In 1934 Marie died of a rare disease caused by all the radiation she had been exposed to over the years. She had not realized the danger. Even today Marie’s notebooks are so radioactive that people have to wear protective clothing to handle them.
Hedy Lamarr
Inventor and Actor
(1914–2000)
Hedy Lamarr was born Hedy Kiesler in Vienna, Austria. When she was 19, she married an arms dealer who had ties to German Nazis and Italian Fascists. Hedy, however, was Jewish. When it became clear that World War II (1939–45) was unavoidable, she divorced her husband and left Europe.
In 1938 Hedy boarded a ship to the United States, bound for Hollywood and a career as an actor. She already had a signed contract with MGM Studios after meeting the film producer Louis B. Mayer in Paris the previous year. Hedy became famous, and starred in big-budget films. She went on to be one of Hollywood’s first female producers, creating some groundbreaking work.
Beyond the Hollywood success, Hedy had an unusual hobby—she loved inventing things. She developed her most important invention during the war, when she was just 27 years old.
“All creative people want to do the unexpected.”
Working with American composer George Antheil, Hedy devised a secure communications system for warships to control their torpedoes. It used radio signals that kept switching frequency so they could not be tracked or jammed. Hedy and George’s wireless system was a forerunner of GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
In 1995, aged 80, Hedy’s work was recognized with the BULBIE Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, the “Oscars of invention.”
Gerty Cori
Biochemist
(1896–1957)
Born in Prague, now part of the Czech Republic, Gerty Cori (born Gerty Radnitz) decided aged 16 that she wanted to become a doctor. She worked hard to get into the university and studied medicine from 1914 to 1920. She met her husband Carl Cori at university—they married in 1920.
The Coris moved to Vienna, Austria, after Carl got a job at the university. As a woman, Gerty was not allowed an academic job. She had to take an assistant position at a hospital. After two years, the couple decided to emigrate to the United States.
Gerty and her husband started working as researchers in Buffalo, New York. Gerty was employed a few ranks below Carl, even though she had the same amount of experience. The couple started investigating what happens to sugar after it has been eaten. They discovered how the body stores energy and releases it. This process is called the Cori cycle.
“I believe that in art and science are the glories of the human mind. I see no conflict between them.”
In 1947 Carl and Gerty were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work on the body’s sugar storage and release. One result of their research was the development of new treatments for diabetes (a condition that affects blood sugar levels).
Sylvia Earle
Marine Biologist
(b.1935)
In 2016 President Barack Obama of the United States made an important announcement—he was expanding the protected area of ocean around the Hawaiian islands to make it the largest section of that type on Earth. This landmark decision was thanks to the work of Sylvia Earle (born Sylvia Reade), one of the world’s most influential marine scientists.
Sylvia moved to the Gulf of Mexico with her family when she was 12. It was here, witnessing ocean wildlife close up, that she discovered her love for the marine environment. She started diving in 1953 and later completed two degrees in botany, carrying out extensive research into algae.
Sylvia’s algae studies took ten years and earned her a PhD, as well as much praise from fellow scientists.
In 1970 Sylvia headed a mission as part of Project Tektite, where teams of four scientists and an engineer lived in an underwater laboratory for up to 20 days. Sylvia’s all-female team carried out important research and also captured the American public’s imagination—the women were praised for their dedication and bravery.
Sylvia used her newfound fame to speak out about pollution in the oceans. She had seen first-hand the damage caused by plastic waste, chemicals, and overfishing. She became a tireless campaigner for the protection of what she called “Earth’s blue heart.”
Sylvia also pushed the boundaries of deep-sea
diving. In September 1979 she descended 381 m (1,250 ft) to the seabed—a world record for an untethered (unattached) dive. She walked for two hours in her heavy, high-tech suit, exploring depths that no diver had ever seen before.
“Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume.”
In 1982 Sylvia co-founded a submersible company. It designed Deep Rover, a bubble-shaped, one-person research submarine that gave an all-round view and could descend to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Sylvia has served on national marine boards, led more than 50 expeditions, published over 100 scientific papers, and written books about protecting the world’s oceans. In 1998 she became the National Geographic Society’s first female Explorer-in-Residence, a position she still holds today.
In 2009, Sylvia founded Mission Blue, which has the aim of creating Hope Spots—areas of protected ocean that are a refuge for marine wildlife. In Hawaii, that mission has been accomplished.
101 Awesome Women Who Changed Our World Page 4
