A History Of Women In STEM
The 11th February is Women and Girls in Science day — where we celebrate all of the achievements that women have made in the STEM field. Here’s a whistle-stop tour of just a handful of accomplishments that women in STEM have made throughout history.
Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was an English writer and mathematician that’s known for her work on Charles Babbage’s mechanical computer: the Analytical Engine. It’s believed that she was the first person to come to the conclusion that this machine had other uses beyond mathematical calculations, and then proceeded to publish the first ever algorithm intended to be completed by this type of machine. Therefore, she is often known as the first person to recognise the full potential of computers, and also one of the world’s first computer programmers.
When Ada was a teenager, her natural talent for mathematics led her becoming acquainted with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, who is now known as “The Father of Computers”. She was particularly interested in Babbage’s work on the Analytical Engine. They first met and began working together in 1883 through their mutual friend, private tutor, and fellow mathematics enthusiast Mary Somerville.
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist with a specialism in X-ray Crystallography, whose research was vital tin understanding the molecular structures of DNA, viruses, RNA, graphite, and coal. It is widely known that her invaluable contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were not given as much credit as they should have been until long after her passing in April 1958.
She did, however, receive a variety of accolades and awards after her death: in 1982, Iota Sigma Pi named Rosalind Franklin as a National Honorary Member. Then in 2003, the Royal Society established the Rosalind Franklin Award for an outstanding contributions to any area within natural science, technology, or engineering. In 2016, the Rosalind Franklin Building at the University of Wolverhampton was officially opened — a multi-million pound facility dedicated to teaching, researching, and exhibiting the sciences.
Katherine Johnson
Creola Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician, whose complex calculations of orbital mechanics as an employee of NASA were essential to the success of the first U.S. space flights, and all that have occurred since. During her 35-year career at NASA and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, she earned a well-deserved reputation for mastering several complex manual calculations, and also helped to pioneer the use of computers to perform these tasks. Nasa noted Katherine as, “a historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist”.
Katherine’s reputable work included calculating launch windows, trajectories, as well as emergency return paths for Project Mercury space flights, including putting the first American in space; the first American in orbit, and travel paths for both the Apollo Lunar Module and the command module on some of the first flights to the Moon. Her calculations were also critical to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she also worked on plans for a mission to Mars before her untimely death in February 2020.
Catherine Wong
In UK we often take access to healthcare for granted, thanks to the NHS. However, there are many places all over the globe where it is much more difficult to come by. In many of these regions, computers and fully-equipped medical centers can be scarce — but mobile smartphones are still a part of everyday life. 17-year-old Catherine Wong, a science student from New Jersey, invented a small device that can display a person’s heartbeat right on the screen of their smartphone back in 2012.
Using this new device, an average person is able to undertake an electrocardiogram to check for any heart problems. With heart conditions such as heart attacks and heart disease being some of the biggest killers worldwide, this kind of tech could potentially be lifesaving and bring much needed diagnostics to places where it would have previously been more difficult to do so.
Women and girls are still needed in all STEM fields. If you’re interested in becoming the next leading Woman or Girl in Science, take a look at the Women in STEM scholarship (South America only), as well as some of the fantastic courses we offer at the University of Wolverhampton!