5 Pioneering Women in Science You Should Know About
- 11th Feb 2025
- Author: Chloe Hopkinson
The world of science has long been shaped and moulded by genuine wonder for the universe, yet much of history has kept groundbreaking discoveries by women and girls in the shadows. Throughout the history of time, women have pushed boundaries, challenged stereotypes, and led the way in many scientific innovations. This blog will shine a light on the stories of a small handful of these trailblazing women, because when curiosity is nurtured and women can thrive in science, the whole world benefits.
Hypatia
Mathematician, astronomer, philosopher
“Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly, is better than not to think at all”
Hypatia was born between 350-370 AD in Alexandria, Egypt, during a time when women were not encouraged to have opinions, thoughts or wonders about the world. However, with the support and mentorship from her father, she studied mathematics and astronomy and is the earliest recorded woman involved in STEM.
Throughout her life, she became one of Alexandria’s first female teachers and eventually the head of a Platonist school, updated old texts about geometry, algebra and astronomy, and advanced her father’s work in preserving Greek mathematical and astronomical traditions.
Hypatia taught people how to use an astrolabe, an instrument which measures the angle between the horizon and a star or planet, and for over 200 years it helped sailors calculate the time of day and their location in the ocean. She also invented a new version of the hydrometer – a device which determines the relative density and gravity of fluids.
Her students and crowds of people from all over the city would gather to listen and learn from Hypatia during her lectures about mathematics and the stars, as she was particularly gifted at breaking down complex subjects to make them easier to understand, something which has influenced the notes and transcripts of mathematicians and astronomers for centuries.
Hypatia became a feminist icon when she refused to wear traditional women’s clothing and instead adorned scholars’ robes like the male teachers, as well as helping women realise that they too could speak their mind, and voice their views on the world around them.
Wang Zhenyi
Astronomer, mathematician, poet
“There were times that I had to put down my pen and sighed. But I love the subject, I do not give up”
Wang Zhenyi was born in 1768 in China during the Qing dynasty. She was born in a time where education was strictly for the wealthy and women were expected to be uninterested in studying. However, defying gender norms, her family tutored her in astronomy, poetry, medicine, geography and mathematics, as well as learning archery, martial arts and equestrian skills from travelling across the country.
Over the course of her life, she excelled in mathematics and astronomy and could accurately explain and prove how equinoxes move in addition to calculating their movement. She updated the star count, developed her own arguments about gravity, and used her telescope to comment confidently on Earth’s roundness and the revolving directions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Wang conducted her own original research to understand the relationship between lunar and solar eclipses – she crafted her own experiment using a crystal lamp as the Sun, a round mirror as the Moon, and a round table to represent the Earth, and documented her findings in one of her articles ‘The Explanation of a Lunar Eclipse’.
She believed in equal and fair opportunities for both women and men, and advocated that within society, men and women are all just people who have the same reason for studying.
Annie Easley
Computer programmer, mathematician, rocket scientist
“You can do anything you want to, but you have to work at it”
Annie Easley was born in 1933 in Alabama, USA. She was always encouraged by her mother to gain a good education, and she excelled during her studies. Being born in the American south meant she was subjected to certain laws at the time that tried to prevent black people from voting, as they were obligated to conduct a literacy test and pay money to vote. Annie cast her vote and then tutored and helped other African Americans to pass the literacy test so they too could vote.
In 1955, she applied for a job at NACA (predecessor to NASA) after learning about “human computers” who were mathematicians that would solve complex and intricate mathematical calculations by hand that were needed for rocket science. She was one of the first African American women to work as a computer scientist for NASA.
Over her 34-year career at NASA, she earned her degree in mathematics whilst working as a human computer, and then when electronic computers were introduced, Annie began coding and programming to further aid launch simulations. She researched power plants and electric batteries and created a computer program that measured solar winds.
This research led NASA to appointing Annie as a leading member of the team who worked on the Centaur rockets in the 1950s, which laid the foundation for future rocket projects including the Space Shuttle and the flight of Cassini, the probe that launched to Saturn atop the upper stage of a Centaur rocket. The Centaur project is still used today and is considered one of NASAs most important projects.
Annie advocated for people to explore an interest in STEM, tutored underprivileged children in her free time and worked to address racial and gender gaps in tech-related fields.
Sylvia Earle
Oceanographer, marine biologist, aquanaut
“Look at the everyday decisions that you make. You’ve got a chance to make a difference!”
Sylvia Earle was born in 1935 in New Jersey, USA. Her curiosity and appreciation for nature began during her childhood where her family home was (located near the woods), and later when the family moved to Florida, she could explore salt marshes, sea grass beds, and all things ocean.
Sylvia majored in botany and learned to scuba dive throughout her studies at Florida State University. She later achieved a doctorate where she personally collected and then researched over 20,000 samples of algae! In 1970, Sylvia led the first all-female team of women aquanauts as part of a mission, Tektite II, to live in a laboratory 15 metres underwater for a few weeks. Sylvia and her team conducted experiments on the psychological effects of closed and restricted environments for NASA, whilst still getting to go out and scuba dive amongst the coral reefs. It was during these dives that she observed first-hand the issue of pollution in our oceans.
In 1979, Sylvia ventured 380 metres to the ocean floor in a JIM (atmospheric diving) suit, setting and still holding the record for the deepest untethered dive and sea walk. This earned her the nicknames ‘Her Deepness’ and ‘The Sturgeon General’.
Between 1990 and 1992 she was the chief scientist at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and was the first woman in this role, but left the position to follow her passion for raising awareness of the threats pollution and overfishing is posing to our planet's oceans.
It’s no surprise that she was named Time magazine’s first Hero of the Planet in 1998 as well as being inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
Patricia Bath
Ophthalmologist, physician, inventor
“Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of imagination”
Patricia Bath was born in 1942 in New York, USA. From a young age she was encouraged to pursue the academics, with her mother buying Patricia her first chemistry set, sparking a childhood interest in science.
She burst onto the science scene at age 16 when she became one of a handful of students to attend a cancer research workshop. Whilst participating in these sessions, she came up with a way to mathematically predict cancer cell growth, which the head of the workshop then included in a scientific paper. This gained widespread attention and earned Patricia Mademoiselle magazine’s Merit Award in 1960.
She became a doctor and the first Black person to train in ophthalmology (medical speciality in eye disorders) at Columbia University in 1969. During her learning, she discovered that Black Americans were twice as likely to suffer blindness than other patients and they were eight times more likely to develop glaucoma. This led her to develop ways of expanding access to eye care to underprivileged communities which included the co-founding of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, establishing eyesight as a basic human right for all.
During the 1980s, Patricia invented the Laserphaco, a medical device that was able to improve treatment for cataracts patients and using it, she helped restore the eyesight of people who had been blind for decades. The device is used worldwide and has improved vision for millions of people. She patented the Laserphaco in 1988 which made her the first African American woman to receive a medical patent.
Patricia was one of the first Black women inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2022, and in 2024, she was introduced into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
These five pioneers are just some of the women throughout time that have paved the way for a more inclusive, innovative and revolutionary world for generations to come. Let’s continue to champion the amazing achievements of girls and women in science to inspire the next generation of female inventors, engineers and scientists.
So be courageous like Hypatia, tenacious like Wang Zhenyi, unstoppable like Annie Easley, adventurous like Sylvia Earle, innovative like Patricia Ball, but most importantly, just be you. Find something you love, something that excites you, something that empowers you, because the next woman in science to transform the world could just well be you.
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
Full Credits / References:
(Banner image) Women in STEM, Credit: Antonio Rodriguez
(1) Illustrative portrait of Hypatia by Jules Maurice Gaspard, Credit: Public Domain
(2) Illustrative portrait of Wang Zhenyi, Credit: Gini Wade
(3) Annie Easley, Credit: NASA
(4) Sylvia Earle, Credit: Public Domain
(5) Dr. Patricia Bath, Credit: Public Domain
