Maria Merian (16471717) was a Germanborn naturalist and explorer whose detailed illustrations of insects and plants remain popular 300 years after her death in 1717. She was one of the first illustrators to actually study the topic they were drawing, and her observations on the metamorphosis of caterpillars did much to advance the scientific field of entomology. In 1699 she travelled with her daughter, Dorothea, to Suriname in Central America and illustrated the insects and plants which she saw there, and on her return published her work, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, to great acclaim. “In my youth, I spent my time investigating insects.”
Wáng Zhēnyí (1768-97) was an 18th Century Chinese mathematician, astronomer and poet who became one of China’s greatest scholars despite having to teach herself, as women were forbidden an education during that time. In her short life she died before reaching 30 - she was able to calculate and explain the movement of equinoxes and lunar eclipses and she wrote math books in accessible language so that they could be understood by more people. She was also an acclaimed poet and she excelled in archery, martial arts and equestrian skills. Remarkably, her obvious brilliance allowed her the right to tutor male students, something which was otherwise unheard of in 18th Century China. In 2004, the International Astronomical Union named one of Venus’s craters after her. “It’s made to believe women are the same as men; Are you not convinced daughters can also be heroic?”
Laura Bassi (1711-78) was an 18th Century Italian physicist who, in 1732, became the first ever female university lecturer. During her long career at the University of Bologna, she championed the work of Isaac Newton and was instrumental in introducing his theories to the whole of Italy. At her doctorate ceremony a silver coin was created in her honor, acknowledging the significance of the event and linking her to Minerva, Goddess of Learning. She fought hard for equal pay and opportunities for women scientists, and ran private lessons when male colleagues prevented her from teaching at the University. A mother of 8 children, in 1776 she was elected to the Chair of Experimental Physics by the Bologna Institute of Sciences. On marrying physician Giuseppe Veratti, Bassi explained: “I have chosen a person who walks the same path of learning, and who from long experience, I was certain would not dissuade me from it.”
Ada Lovelace (1815-52) was a British mathematician who, as far back as the 1840s, became a pioneer of computing, having worked closely with Charles Babbage on his concept for the world’s first digital and programmable computer. As well as having a brilliant mind, Lovelace was also a skilled writer and not only was she able to explain these difficult concepts in words to baffled scientists, but her notes included a method of calculation that many historians now see as the first ever computer program. For this, she is widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer! In 1979, 127 years after her death, a computer programming language, ‘Ada’, was named in her honour. It is still used today in aviation, healthcare and financial systems. Ada died aged 36 and was buried next to her father, the poet Lord Byron, despite him abandoning her when she was just a few months old. “Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is in your science.”
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