International Women’s Day 2019 highlighted the need for more women to be recognised in the sciences. We take a look back in history at some of the pioneering women in science.
When one considers the great scientists over the past 600 years, names such as Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Darwin, Newton, Einstein & Heisenberg may spring to mind & it is no secret that these men have defined areas of scientific advancement & development for the benefit of humankind.
A very famous historical quote states “behind every great man, is a great woman” What history has actually proven is that ‘women’ don’t need to be ‘behind’ a man to be recognised as having an independent brain, education & audacity; moreover, women have proven time & again that they can not only stand on their own two feet, but by their sheer determination, they are able to succeed & supersede in traditionally male dominated areas. One of the most male dominated paths is of course in the sciences & engineering.
Women have traditionally been seen as the support & or silent partner of some of the great innovators in history. Therefore, when Bertha Benz took it upon herself to fly in the face of traditional male dominance in the automotive world & to prove her husband’s motorcar a worthy product to invest in; she, thought nothing of taking the original patented Mercedes Benz Automobile on a long-distance journey from Mannheim to Pforzheim, to show the world what the automobile could do. Bertha Benz stunned the male dominated automobile world by her actions, which put her husband Carl Benz on the automotive map & spurned investments from interested parties. She was determined to see this technical break through as a success & if it wasn’t for her belief (a woman’s belief) in the technology, the motor car may never have been developed as early as it was.
Bertha Benz
With this iconic moment in history in mind, we take a look back at three trailblazers in science & engineering & how their innovations & pioneering work has transformed the world today.
Mary Somerville (1780 – 1872)
Mary Somerville (Somerville was her married name) born to a Vice Admiral Father & the daughter of an eminent solicitor, grew up in a coastal town, 9 miles from Edinburgh. Despite struggling with reading & writing from a very young age; Mary had a keen fascination with animals, birds & geology, absorbing herself in the countryside where she lived.
Mary Somerville (1780 – 1872)
Despite several home tutors, Mary still struggled with writing & therefore at the age of 13, Mary received formal school lessons in Edinburgh. She taught herself to read Latin & immersed herself in her studies, despite more senior relatives telling her she needed to focus on needlework!
Mary’s own recollections of her learning journey, are explored in her personal recollection, published in 1874:
“I sat up very late reading Euclid. The servants, however, told my mother… whereupon an order was given to take away my candle as soon as I was in bed. I had, however, already gone through the first six books of Euclid, and now I was thrown on my memory, which I exercised by beginning at the first book, and demonstrating in my mind a certain number of problems every night, till I could nearly go through the whole. My father came home for a short time, and, somehow or other, finding out what I was about, said to my mother, “Peg, we must put a stop to this, or we shall have Mary in a strait jacket one of these days.”
MARY SOMERVILLE – Personal Recollections, Published 1874 (1)
Mary’s relationship with Mathematics grew & when her second husband, Dr. William Somerville discovered her passion & desire to study further; it was him who encouraged & helped developed Mary’s knowledge.
Having moved to London in 1819 for her husband’s new job at the Chelsea Hospital, Mary continued her mathematical studies & applied this knowledge to physical science.
In 1826, age 45, Mary published her first scientific paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society: The magnetic properties of the violet rays of the solar spectrum & in 1831 Mary published The Mechanism of the Heavens. This was her translation of the first two volumes of Pierre Laplace’s Mécanique Céleste. (1)
“I translated Laplace’s work from algebra into common language… I was astonished at the success of my book; all the reviews of it were highly favourable ; I received letters of congratulation from many men of science. I was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Miss Caroline Herschel… It was unanimously voted by the Royal Society of London, that my bust should be placed in their great Hall… Our relations and others who had so severely criticised and ridiculed me, astonished at my success, were now loud in my praise.”
MARY SOMERVILLE – Personal Recollections, Published 1874 (1)
Mary Somerville went on to publish a series of ground breaking books & after her death, became known as the Queen of 19th-century science. Mary Fairfax Somerville died in 1872 at the age of 91, leaving behind a scientific legacy which is still recognised by international universities today.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836- 1917)
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first female to qualify as a Doctor in England. Elizabeth was inspired by pioneering women in medicine, in particular Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor to graduate in the United States. Despite being well educated, Elizabeth was refused entry into every University to train as a Physician & therefore had to train as a nurse. Having to train alongside male colleagues at a Middlesex Hospital, she was subsequently barred following complaints from other male students.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836- 1917)
In 1866 Elizabeth was appointed as a medical attendant at the St Mary’s Dispensary, London. Determined to become qualified as a doctor, she taught herself French & got a medical degree in Paris, but was still refused entry into the British Medical Register. She married James Anderson in 1871 (they had three children). In 1872 she set up the New Hospital for Women at the St Mary’s Dispensary, later the London School of Medicine for Women, where she appointed Dr Elizabeth Blackwell as Professor of Gynaecology. (2)
Partly due to Elizabeth’s campaigning, an act was passed in 1876 permitting women to enter the medical profession & in 1883 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was appointed Dean at the London School of Medicine for Women & was key to it’s expansion. In 1902 Elizabeth retired to Suffolk, where she became the first female mayor in 1908.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson died in December 1917 & 1918 the London School of Medicine for Women was renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital (now part of the University of London).
Edith Clarke (1883 – 1959)
Edith Clarke was the first women in history to gain an Engineering degree. Like so very many women before & after her; trying to gain a place at a University in a male dominated world, was almost impossible.
Having been born to a farming family in 1883 & an expectation upon her to marry & become a mother; Edith went against the traditional grain & went on to study mathematics and astronomy at Vassar College & graduated in 1908. After her graduation, Edith taught Mathematics until she realised her real passion was in engineering.
She spent some time studying civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and but left it and proceeded to earn an electrical engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becoming the first woman to do so. Being a woman, she was unable to find work as an engineer, but she persevered and eventually became an electrical engineer in the Central Station Engineering Department of General Electric. (3)
Edith Clarke (1883 – 1959)
Through her work at GE, Edith filed a patent in 1921 for a “graphical calculator” to be employed in solving electric power transmission line problems. (5) In 1947 Clarke left GE after 26 years to teach electrical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, where she became the first female EE professor in the US and worked there until retirement in 1956. (4)
Mary Somerville, Elizabeth Garret Anderson & Edith Clark stand proudly alongside other giants in the sciences. Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Lise Meitner, Dorothy Hodgkin & Emmy Noether a mere snapshot of the vast list of women scientists, pioneers & innovators in their fields, so often overlooked, yet so vital to the development of practical & theoretical scientific advances; which have all had a vital impact on our modern lives.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason on behalf of Dolphin N2.
- https://www.famousscientists.org/mary-somerville/
- http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/elizabethgarrettanderson
- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/edith-clarke-7088.php
- http://edisontechcenter.org/Clarke.html
