Women Who Shaped Science

The sciences are defined by those who push past the bounds of human knowledge and break down the thought barriers of their time. But by and large, it's men—mostly white ones—whose achievements are recorded in the history books. We celebrate them as geniuses who upended our understanding of the cosmos, the planet and ourselves.

Smithsonian.com is sharing the stories of women scientists who also changed the world, but were written out of history. It was a woman (atmospheric researcher Eunice Foote) who first outlined the global greenhouse effect; a woman (FDA pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey) who stood between America and an epidemic of birth defects; and a woman (astronomer Maria Mitchell) who named comets and shaped the early field of astronomy.

These pioneers paved the way for future generations of women scientists and explorers. But spotlighting their stories is about more than just augmenting women’s history. It's about understanding the cultural attitudes, historical forces and social realities that made science what it is today—and what it will be tomorrow.

Series Editor: Rachel E. Gross
Lead Writer: Leila McNeill

Featured Story

When Girls Studied Planets And the Sky Had No Limits

Maria Mitchell, America's first female astronomer, flourished at a time when both sexes “swept the sky”

By Eliza McGraw

Public Health

The Woman Who Stood Between America and a Generation of 'Thalidomide Babies'

By Leila McNeill

Climate Change

The Scientist Who Defined the Greenhouse Effect, But Didn’t Get the Credit

By Leila McNeill

Human Anatomy

The Lady Anatomist Who Brought Dead Bodies to Light

By Leila McNeill

The History of Breeding Mice for Science Begins With a Woman in a Barn

By Leila McNeill

How a Pioneering Botanist Broke Down Japan’s Gender Barriers

By Leila McNeill

This 19th Century "Lady Doctor" Helped Usher Indian Women Into Medicine

By Leila McNeill

The True Story of “Hidden Figures,” the Women Who Helped Win the Space Race

By Maya Wei-Haas

The Woman Who Transformed How We Teach Geography

By Leila McNeill

The Forgotten Women Scientists Who Fled the Holocaust for the United States

By Lorraine Boissoneault

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This Feminist Psychologist-Turned-Rock-Star Led a Full Life of Resistance

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Google Doodle Honors Little-Known Math Genius Who Helped America Reach the Stars

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