Significant Female Scientists who were written out of history

Rapid fire. Can you name ten male scientists? I couldn't imagine getting through my science binder without putting a name to those proudly plastered faces and their oddball stares. Howbeit, I bet you can't name ten female scientists off the top of your head, and neither can I. We're influenced by what's known as 'The Matilda Effect.' The historical practice of women's works deemed ineligible and pushed to the footnotes, while their male counterparts are graced with glory and laudation.

The contributions of women to science have been largely ignored for centuries, with many women’s work either taken credit for by male counterparts or simply written out of history. This systemic undervaluing of female scientists is known as the Matilda Effect, named after feminist and suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage, who pointed out this phenomenon in 1883. Despite the growing awareness of this issue, many women's scientific achievements remain unacknowledged. It's infuriating to know that for so long, women have had to fight against systemic biases, stereotypes, and outright discrimination, just to have their work recognized and their voices heard.

One of the earliest examples of a female scientist whose work was overlooked is Eunice Foote. Foote was an American scientist who conducted experiments on the greenhouse effect in 1856. Her research showed that carbon dioxide was a potent absorber of heat and played a significant role in regulating the Earth's temperature. However, her male contemporaries, John Tyndall and Svante Arrhenius are credited with the discovery of the greenhouse effect, while Foote's work was largely ignored.

Another such example is Lise Meitner, another female scientist whose contributions to science were under-recognized. Meitner was an Austrian physicist who co-discovered nuclear fission in 1938. Despite her significant role in the discovery, her male colleague, Otto Hahn, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery in 1944.

Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American physicist who played a crucial role in disproving the law of conservation of parity in 1957. Her male colleagues, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang received the Nobel Prize for the discovery, while Wu's contribution was overlooked.

Marthe Gautier was a French geneticist who discovered the genetic cause of Down syndrome in 1958. However, credit for the discovery went to her male colleagues, Jerome Lejeune and Raymond Turpin.

Similarly, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a British astrophysicist, discovered the first pulsar in 1967, while her male supervisor, Anthony Hewish, received the Nobel Prize for the discovery.

Alice Ball was an African-American chemist who developed a successful treatment for leprosy in the early 1900s. However, her male supervisor, Arthur Dean, took credit for her research.

Bessie Blount, an African-American physical therapist, invented an electronic feeding tube in 1951, but her invention was stolen by her male colleagues, and she received no credit for it.

Katherine Johnson was an African-American mathematician who calculated trajectories for NASA's early space missions, including the Apollo 11 moon landing. Her contributions were largely unknown until the release of the movie "Hidden Figures" in 2016.

Esther Lederberg, upon discovering the lambda bacteriophage bacteria, laid the groundwork for future discoveries on genetic inheritance in bacteria, gene regulation, and genetic recombination. While her husband Joshua Lederberg shared the Nobel Prize with George Beadle and Edward Tatum, she was snubbed off the credit and recognition she much deserved.

The theory that sex determination is directed by an organism's genetics, that the males produced sperm with X and Y chromosomes and that females produced reproductive cells with only X chromosomes, was deduced by Nettie Stevens. Instead, Thomas Hunt Morgan claimed accreditation for her discovery, and Stevens' name was soon not associated with her work.

And the list could go on...

The Matilda Effect has had a significant impact on the representation of women in STEM fields. The undervaluing of women's achievements has perpetuated a culture of exclusion and marginalization in science. Women have been discouraged from pursuing careers in STEM, and those who do enter these fields often face sexism and discrimination. As we celebrate International Women's Day this month, I hope this post serves as a reminder of the incredible work that women scientists have done and continue to do. We still have a long way to go in achieving gender equality in STEM fields, but by highlighting these forgotten voices, we can take steps toward a more inclusive and representative future.

These stories are not just statistics or facts - they are a reflection of the deep injustice and pain that women in science have faced for centuries. They are a reminder that we still have so much work to do to create a truly equal and inclusive society, where women can thrive and succeed in every field, without fear of discrimination or bias. As we continue to push for greater representation and recognition of women in science, let's not forget the legacy of the many women that have come before us and have been uncelebrated for their remarkable contributions without which we could not imagine a world today.

For whatever reason, I didn't succumb to the stereotype that science wasn't for girls

- Sally Ride