LibGuides: The Way of Progress was Neither Swift nor Easy: Celebrating Women in Science: Historic Women in Science

Women Scientists

Agamede

12^th century B. C. Greek physician familiar with the healing powers of plants according to Homer.

Theano

Is thought to live in the last part of 6^th century B.C. and possibly the first woman mathematician who may have worked under or with Pythagoras.

Agnodike

4^th century B.C. accredited with being the first female midwife in Athens.

Aglaonike

1^st or 2^nd century Greek astronomer and thaumaturge with the ability to make the moon disappear from the sky.

Elephantis

Supposedly, a 1^st century BC midwife with the ability to cure baldness.

Laïs

1^st Century BC midwife and rival of Elephantis. According to Pliny they disagreed with each on medicine, treatments, and medical theories.

Salpe

Another 1^st century BC midwife reference by Pliny and is described as a obstetric who also used both herbal and magical remedies to cure a variety of ailments.

Sotira

1^st century obstetrix with the ability to accomplish remarkable cures according to Pliny and the author of Gynaecia.

Metrodora

1^st or 2^nd century B.C. midwife and thought to the first female medical writer and author of On the Diseases and Cures of Woman.

Mary the Jewess

1^st or 2^nd century AD Alchemist is credited with the development of the Tribikos, Kerotakis and Bain-marie which are tools that where instrumental in the development of chemistry.

Aemilia Hilaria

c. 300- c. 363, was a Gallo-Roman physician who wrote books on gynecology and obstetrics.

Hypatia of Alexandria

~350 – 415 AD, was mathematician and astronomer in Egypt and taught the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria. She is also the first female mathematician whose life is well documented.

Cleopatra the Alchemist

3^rd century AD Greek alchemist sometimes credited with ability to produce the Philosopher’s stone and with being the inventor of the alembic.

Aspasia

4^th century AD Greek physician in the areas of obstetrics and gynecology, credited with developing the techniques for moving a breech baby.

Jacobina Félicie

A Middle Ages physician who was fined and taken to court for practice medicine in France without a license. This created a precedent against women practicing Medicine in France.

Abella

14^th century physician and lecturer at the medical school in Salerno. She is the author of two treatise De atrabile and Denatura seminist humani, unfortunately there is not a surviving copy of either text.

Dototea Bocchi (Bucca)

Appointed a professor of medicine at the University of Bologna in 1390 and supposedly taught there for 40 years.

Alessandra Giliani (1307-1326)

An anatomist that is credited with being the first female anatomist and dissector. It said that she drained blood from veins of the deceased and filled them with colored liquids that solidified so the paths of the vessels in the body could be traced.

Rebecca Guarna

A mid-14^th century physician that taught at the medical school at Salerno and wrote treatise on urine (De Urinis) , fever (De febrius) and embryo( De embrione).

Mercuriade

Another 14 century physisican from the University of Salerno who wrote treaties on Crisis in Pestilent Fever (De Febre Pestilenti), the Cure of Wound (De Curatio) and ungentis (De Ungentis).

Maria Cunitz

17^th century astronomer who authored Urania Propitia and the Cunitz crater on Venus is named after her as well as minor planet 12624 Mariacunitia.

Elisabeth Koopman Hevelius

17^th century astronomer who assisted her husband and published the Prodromus astronomiae after his death.

Jeanne Dumée

17^th century astronomer and author of Entretiens sur l’opinion de Copernic touchant la mobilité de la terre.

Jane Sharp

A 17^th century midwife that is known for her publication The Midwives Book: or the Whole art of Midwifery Discovered


	Maria Gaetana Agnesi Italian Mathematician Born: May 16, 1718 Died: January 9, 1799 First women to write a mathematic handbook instituzioni Analitiche ad uso della goventu italiana and be appointed as a mathematics professor at a university.
	Maria Angela Ardinghelli Translator, mathematician, and Physicist Born: 1730 Died: 1825 Primarily known for her translations of the works of an English physicist named Stephen Hales into Italian.
	Laura Bassi Physicist Ph.D. from the University of Bologna Born: October 29, 1711 Died: February 20, 1778 She was the first women to have a doctorate in science and the first female university Professor.
	Marie Catherine Biheron Anatomist Born: November 17, 1719 Died: June 18, 1795 Known for anatomical models.
	Jane Colden Botanist Born: March 27,1724 Died: March 10, 1766 Known as the first female American Botanist.
	Maria Dalle Donne Physician M.D. from the University of Bologna Born: July 12, 1778 Died June 8, 1842 She was the Director of Midwives at the University of Bologna.
	Émile du Châtelet Natural Philosopher and Mathematician Born: December 17, 1706 Died: September 10, 1749 Known for translating Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica into French.
	Dorothea Christiane Erxleben Physician M. D. University or Halle Born: November 13, 1715 Died: June 13, 1762 The first female medical doctor in Germany.
	Elizabeth Fulhame Chemist For experimentation with oxidation-reduction reactions and the publication of her essay An Essay on Combustion with a View to a New Art of Dying and Painting, wherein the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Hypotheses are Proved Erroneous.
	Sophie Germain Mathematician Born: April 1, 1776 Died: June 27, 1831 She was one of the pioneers for elasticity theory and known for her work on the number theory.
	Caroline Lucretia Herschel Astronomer Self-Educated Born: March 16, 1750 Died: January 9, 1848 She assisted her brother and was paid (a first for a female scientist) as his assistant and the first women to published her finding in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
	Marie-Jeanne de Lalande Astronomer Born: 1768 Died: November 8, 1832 She calculated the Tables horaires de marine published by her father and the astronomical almanac published by her uncle.
	Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier Chemist Born: January 20, 1758 Died: February 10, 1863 She illustrated many of her husband's text, translated many English scientific text into French and instrumental in the standardization of the scientific method.
	Nicole-Reine Lepaute Astronomer Self-taught Born: January 5, 1723 Died: December 6, 1788 She helped predict the return of Halley’s Comet and calculated the timing of a solar eclipse.
	Anna Morandi Manzolini Anatomist Born: January 21, 1714 Died: July 9, 1174 She was a sculpture of anatomical wax models and lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna.
	Louise du Pierry Astronomer and Professor Born: July 30, 1746 Died: February 27, 1807 She was the first female professor of astronomy at the Sorbonne University in Paris and taught the first course in astronomy for women which was reported as being a huge success despite fears that the subject matter would be too difficult for women. She also calculated the tables used by other astronomers while studying the moon.

	Elizabeth Garrett Anderson British Physician M.D. from the University of Sorbonne Born: June 9, 1836 Died: December 17, 1917 First women to qualify as a physician and surgeon in Britain and co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women.
	Mary Anning Fossil Collector, dealer and palaeontologist Born: May 21, 1799 Died: March 9, 1847 Known for find of Jurassic marine fossils in the cliff along the English Channel at Lyme Regis.
	Hertha Marks Ayrton By Héléna Arsène Darmesteter - Art UK, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38762387 Physicist Bachelor of Science from the University of London Born: April 28, 1854 Died: August 26, 1923 Known for her work with the electric arc and her discovery with waves and ripple marks. She is the first woman to read a paper before the Royal Society.
	Florence Merriam Bailey Ornithologist Bachelor of Arts from Smith College Born: August 8, 1863 Died: September 22, 1948 Referred to as the “First Lady of Ornithology” she is known for bird conservation and publishing Birds Through an Opera Glass, the first modern field guide for birdwatching.
	Elizabeth Blackwell Physician M. D. from Geneva College, New York Born: February 3, 1821 Died: May 31,1910 She was the first women to earn a medical degree in the United States and the first women on the General Medical Council’s Medical register.
	Mary Adela Blagg Astronomer Boarding School/self-taught Born: May 17, 1858 Died: April 14, 1944 Known for creating a uniform system for lunar nomenclature and also studied variable stars. She is the first women to become a Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society.
	Rachel Bodley Botanist and Chemist Degree from the Wesleyan Female College Born: December 7, 1831 Died: June 15, 1888 She was a professor of Botany and chemistry.
	Mary Katharine Layne Brandegee Botanist M. D. from the University of California, San Francisco Born: October 28, 1844 Died: April 3, 1920 Known for her studies of the flora in California.
	Elizabeth Knight Britton Botanist Degree from Normal (now Hunter) College, New York City Born: January 9, 1858 Died: February 25, 1934 Known for research and study of mosses.
	Elizabeth Brown Astronomer Born: August 6, 1830 Died: March 5, 1899 Known for her observations of sunspots and solar eclipses and one of the first women Fellows of the Royal Meteorological Society.
	Mary Whiton Calkins Psychologist Ph. D. not granted by Harvard University Born: March 30, 1863 Died: February 26, 1930 She was the first woman to complete the requirements for a doctoral degree in psychology and established the first psychological laboratory for women.
	Eleanor Carothers Zoologist, Geneticist, and Cytologist Ph. D. from Pennsylvania State University Born: December 4, 1882 Died: 1957 She is known for work with grasshoppers.
	Mary Agnes Meara Chase Botanist Born: April 29, 1869 Died: September 24,1963 She is an illustrator who became a botanist while working for the United States Department of Agriculture and for her book the First Book of Grasses: The structure of Grasses Explained for Beginners.
	Anna Botsford Comstock Author, illustrator, and educator of Natural Studies Degree from Cornell University Born: September 1, 1854 Died: August 24, 1930 She illustrated insects for her husband and published several books of her own and one of the first women elected to Sigma Xi, an honorary society at Cornell.
	Clara Eaton Cummings Cryptogamic Botanist Degree from Wellesley College Born: July 13, 1855 Died: December 28, 1906 She studied spore-reproducing plants such as mosses and lichens.
	Alice Eastwood Botanist Self-taught Born: January 19, 1859 Died: October 30, 1953 Helped build the botanical collection at the California Academy of Sciences and published 130 scientific articles and authored 395 land plant species names.
	Rosa Smith Eigenmann Ichhyologist Born: October 7, 1858 Died: January 12, 1947 Considered to be the 1^st woman ichthyologist in the United States. She is also the first Librarian of the San Diego Society of Natural History.
	Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming Astronomer Born: May 15, 1857 Died: May 21, 1911 Help create a cataloging system for stars and discovered the Horsehead Nebula in 1818.
	Margaret Lindsay Murry Huggins Astronomer Self-Educated Born: August 14, 1848 Died: March 24, 1915 She was a pioneer in the field of spectroscopy with her husband William Huggins and co-authored the Atlas of Representative Stellar Spectra.
	Ida Henrietta Hyde Physiologist Ph. D. from the University of Heidelberg Born: September 8, 1857 Died: August 22, 1945 She is known for developing a microelectrode that is small enough to remove tissue from a cell but still powerful enough to stimulate tissue chemically or electronically.
	Sophia Jex-Blake Physician MD from the University of Berne Born: January 21, 1840 Died: January 7, 1912 Campaign for a university education for women, and a member of the Edinburgh Seven with University of Edinburgh being the British university for admit women.
	Marcia Keith Physicist B.S. from Mount Holyoke College Born: September 10, 1859 Died: 1950 She was a founding member of the American Physical Society and taught physics to women.
	Helen Dean King Biologist Ph. D. from Bryn Mawr College Born: September 27, 1869 Died: March 7, 1955 Kind studied inbreeding in Wistar rat and domesticated the Norway rat and was able to breed them in captivity.
	Margaret E. Knight Inventor Born: February 14, 1838 Died: October 12,1914 She invented the machine that made flat bottomed paper bags and the 1^st woman awarded a U.S. Patent.
	Sofya Vasilyevna Korvin-Krukovskaya Mathematician Ph. D. from the University of Göttingen Born: January 15, 1850 Died: February 10, 1891 The first woman appointed fa full professorship in Northern Europe and to work as an editor for a scientific journal.
	Christine Ladd-Franklin Logician and Psychologist Ph. D. from Johns Hopkins University Born: December 1, 1847 Died: March 5,1930 She is known for her work in symbolic logic and the theory of vision
	Henrietta Swan Leavitt Astronomer Bachelor’s from Radcliffe college Born: July 4, 1868 Died: December 12, 1921 She was a human computer at the Harvard Observatory and worked measuring the brightness of stars in the observatory’s photo graphic plate collection.
	Augusta Ada Byron Lovelace Mathematician Born: December 10, 1815 Died: November 27, 1852 She worked with Charles Babbage’s analytical engine and published algorithms to be carried out by that type or machine and is often regarded as the first computer programmer.
	Margaret Eliza Maltby Physicist Ph. D. from the University or Göttingen Born: December 10, 1860 Died: May 3, 1944 First women to be award a PhD in physics from the University or Göttingen and is known for her research involving the measurement of high electrolytic resistances and conductivity of very dilute solutions.
	Jane Halimand Marcet Writer Born: January 1, 1769 Died: June 28, 1858 She wrote popular, explanatory science books for women and children which help inspire next generation to take an interest and in and study Science. One such future scientist was Michael Faraday.
	Lillien Jane Martin Psychologist Ph. D. from the University of Göttingen Born: July 7, 1851 Died: March 26,1943 The First women to become the head of a department at Stanford University.
	Annie Russell Maunder Astronomer Senior Optime from Girton College Born: April 14, 1868 Died: September 15, 1947 She was employed as a “computer” in the Greenwich Observatory where she observed and study sunspots.
	Antonia Caetana Maury Astronomer B.A. from Vassar College Born: March 21, 1866 Died: January 8, 1952 She was the first to detect and calculate the orbit of a spectroscopic binary and published a catalog of stellar spectra using a classification system she created and later adopted by the International Astronomical Union.
	Carlotta Joaquina Maury Paleontologist Ph. D. from Cornell University Born: January 6, 1874 Died: January 3, 1938 She was one of the first women to work as a professional scientist in the oil and gas industry. She worked and consulted for the Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company.
	Maria Mitchell Astronomer Born: August 1, 1818 Died: June 28, 1889 Credit with the first observation of a comet C/1847 T1 and the first woman elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
	Mary Murtfeldt Entomologist Studied at Rockford College (IL) Born: August 6, 1839 Died: February 23, 1913 Did research on the life histories of insects and described several species.
	Amalie Emmy Noether Mathematician Ph. D. form University of Erlangen Born: March 23, 1882 Died: April 14, 1935 She made important contribution to abstract algebra and created a theorem called Noether’s theorem which explains the relationship between symmetry and conservation laws.
	Edith Marion Patch Entomologist Ph. D. from Cornell University Born: July 27, 1876 Died: September 28, 1954 She was the first woman President of the Entomological Society of America.
	Florence Peebles Biologist Ph. D. from Bryn Mawr College Born: June 3, 1874 Died: December 1956 A professor of biology known for research in animal regeneration and tissue formation.
	Mary Engle Pennington Chemist Ph. D. from University of Pennsylvania Born: October 8, 1872 Died: December 27, 1952 Did research on food handling and storage and created standards for refrigerated railroad cars.
	Mary Jane Rathbun Marine Zoologist Ph. D. from George Washington University Born: June 11, 1860 Died: April 4, 1943 She studied crustaceans and was a prolific author with 158 titles written in her lifetime with an emphasis on taxonomy.
	Ellen Swallow Richards Chemist M.A. from Vassar College Born: December 3, 1842 Died: March 30, 1911 She was the first American Women to receive a degree in chemistry and laid the foundation for the science of home economics.
	Dorothea Klumpke Roberts Astronomer Ph. D. from Sorbonne University Born: August 9,1861 Died: October 5, 1942 She was the Director of the Paris Bureau of Measurements and the first woman to earn an advanced degree in Astronomy.

	Ethel Sargant Botanist Graduated from Girton College Born: October 28, 1863 Died: January 16, 1918 She was one of the first female members of the Linnean Society. She was first woman to serve on their council and to preside over a section of the British Association.
	Ellen Churchill Semple Geographer M.A. from Vassar College Born: January 8, 1863 Died: May 8, 1932 She was the first female president of the Association American Geographers and made significant contributions to the development of human geography in the United States.
	Nettie Stevens Geneticist -Cytology Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College Born: July 7, 1861 Died: May 4, 1912 In 1905, discovered that sex (X and Y) chromosomes in mealworms determined the sex of the offspring.
	Margaret Floy Washburn Psychologist Ph. D. from Cornell University Born: July 25, 1871 Died: October 29, 1939 She was the first women to be granted a Ph. D. in psychology the first women elected to the Society of Experimental Psychologists.
	Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler Mathematician Ph. D. from University of Göttingen Born: May 5, 1883 Died: March 26, 1966 She is known for her work with linear algebra in infinite dimensions.
	Sarah Frances Whiting Physicist and Astronomer B.A. from Ingham University Born: August 23, 1847 Died: September 12, 1927 She was the first director and one of the founders of the Whitin Observatory at Wellesley College.
	Mary Watson Whitney Astronomer M. A. from Vassar College Born: September 11, 1847 Died: January 21, 1921 She was the head of the Vassar Observatory for 22 years.
	Anna Winlock Astronomer and Human Computer Born: September 15, 1857 Died: January 4, 1904 Se was a member of the female computer groups known as “the Harvard Computers.” She cataloged the stares near the north and south poles and studied asteroids, notably 443 Eros and 475 Oclio. She was one of the first paid female staff members the Harvard College Observatory.
	Anne Sewell Young Astronomer Ph. D. from Columbia University Born: January 2, 1871 Died: August 15, 1961 She was an astronomy professor at Mount Holyoke College.

The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science by Marilyn Ogilvie; Joy Harvey
Call Number: Reference 1st FL--Founders Library--Non-Circulating Q141 .B5285 2000
ISBN: 0415920388
Publication Date: 2000-07-06
Edited by two of the most respected scholars in the field, this milestone reference combines "facts-fronted" fast access to biographical details with highly readable accounts and analyses of nearly 3000 scientists' lives, works, and accomplishments. For all academic and public libraries' science and women's studies collections.
Conversations on chemistry in which the elements of that science are familiarly explained and illustrated by experiments by Mrs. Marcet (Jane Haldimand)
Call Number: Online (U.S. Congressional Serial Set)
Publication Date: 1818
An essay on combustion, with a view to a new art of dying and painting wherein the phlogistic and antiphlogistic hypotheses are proved erroneous. by Mrs. Fulhame
Call Number: Online (U.S. Congressional Serial Set)
Publication Date: 1810
Fragmented Feminism by Meera Kosambi; Ramaswamy Ram (Editor); Aban Mukherji (Editor); Kohatkar Madhavi (Editor)
Call Number: Main Collection--Founders Library R154.J669 K67 2020
ISBN: 9781138384866
Publication Date: 2019-08-29
"This book is a search for 'the real Anandibai Joshee' ---- a search in which the readers are invited to participate." In her short and eventful life, Anandibai Joshee, the first Indian woman to earn a medical degree, broke many stereotypes. Literate at a time when it was taboo for a girl to attend school or even 'pick up a paper', she was courageous, articulate, and assertive. And ambitious. Fuelled by a desire to improve the healthcare that was available to Indian women at that time, she travelled across the seas to the United States to study medicine. Meera Kosambi's biography of Anandibai is more than just a retelling of the life of a woman who was ahead of her times. Drawing on a host of narratives, Kosambi recovers Anandibai's many voices, which have been submerged in history -- that of a conflicted feminist, a nationalist, and a reformer, among others -- and her engagement with the world at large. This volume is a testament to Meera Kosambi's commitment to social history. When she passed away in 2015, she left an incomplete manuscript that has painstakingly been put together by the editors. Drawing on archival research, including a host of Anandibai's letters, her poems in Marathi, newspaper reports, and rare photographs, this book will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of modern Indian history, sociology, gender, and South Asian studies.
Madame Curie by Eve Curie
Call Number: Faraday Library Collection--211 Faraday Hall QD22.C8 C85 2001
ISBN: 9780306810381
Publication Date: 2001-04-02
Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934) was the first woman scientist to win worldwide fame, and indeed, one of the great scientists of this century. Winner of two Nobel Prizes (for physics in 1903 and for chemistry in 1911), she performed pioneering studies with radium and contributed profoundly to the understanding of radioactivity. The history of her story-book marriage to Pierre Curie, of their refusal to patent their processes or otherwise profit from the commercial exploitation of radium, and her tragically ironic death are legendary and well known but are here revealed from an inside perspective. But, as this book reveals, it was also true. An astonishing mind and a remarkable life are here portrayed by Marie Curie's daughter in a classic and moving account.
The Midwives Book by Jane Sharp; Elaine Hobby (Editor)
Call Number: Main Collection--Founders Library RG945 .S53 1999
ISBN: 019508652X
Publication Date: 1999-08-19
When the midwife Jane Sharp wrote The Midwives Book in 1671, she became the first British woman to publish a midwifery manual. Drawing on works by her male contemporaries and weaving together medical information and lively anecdotes, she produces a book that is instructive, accessible, witty,and constantly surprising.
The Unforgotten Sisters by Gabriella Bernardi
Call Number: Online (Ebook Central)
ISBN: 3319261274
Publication Date: 2016-03-14
Taking inspiration from Siv Cedering's poem in the form of a fictional letter from Caroline Herschel that refers to "my long, lost sisters, forgotten in the books that record our science", this book tells the lives of twenty-five female scientists, with specific attention to astronomers and mathematicians. Each of the presented biographies is organized as a kind of "personal file" which sets the biographee's life in its historical context, documents her main works, highlights some curious facts, and records citations about her. The selected figures are among the most representative of this neglected world, including such luminaries as Hypatia of Alexandra, Hildegard of Bingen, Elisabetha Hevelius, and Maria Gaetana Agnesi. They span a period of about 4000 years, from En HeduAnna, the Akkadian princess, who was one of the first recognized female astronomers, to the dawn of the era of modern astronomy with Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville. The book will be of interest to all who wish to learn more about the women from antiquity to the nineteenth century who played such key roles in the history of astronomy and science despite living and working in largely male-dominated worlds.
Women in Science - Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century by Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie
Call Number: Main Collection--Founders Library Q141 .O34 1986
ISBN: 9780262650380
Publication Date: 1990-08-15
"Was Marie Curie the only woman in science?" This question, asked by a college student trying to write an essay on women in science, planted a seed that grew over a decade of research into this informative and accessible biographical dictionary and bibliography. At the heart of this biographical dictionary are profiles of 186 women whose work is representative of the participation of women in the science of their time and culture. Despite the increasing attention devoted to women's history in recent years, our knowledge of many of these women is still meager, and the book will serve as much as a guide to future research as a resource for historians, librarians, students, and the general public. The book opens with a substantial essay relating the general state of science and philosophical ideas about the role of women in society to the actual participation of women in science over the past two and a half millennia. The classified, annotated bibliography that completes the book can be used as a general research tool as well as a source of information about the particular women whose lives are sketched in this work. The entries provide basic information on their subjects, are referenced to primary sources and other materials in the bibliography, and share an easily flowing narrative style. Beyond that, the length, approach, and focus of the entries have been allowed to vary within an appropriate range to suit the particular women whose lives they recount and whose achievements they evaluate.
Women in the Scientific Search by Patricia J. Siegel; Kay T. Finley
Call Number: Main Collection--Founders Library Q141 .S544 1985
ISBN: 9780810817555
Publication Date: 1984-12-01