In 1965 Stephanie Kwolek created the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness. The best-known member is Kevlar, a material used in protective vests as well as in boats, airplanes, ropes, cables, and much more—in total about 200 applications.
In 1986 Susan Solomon provided the most conclusive evidence for the theory proposed 13 years earlier that CFCs could be destroying the protective layer of ozone in the earth’s upper atmosphere.
In 1978, more than 100 years after its founding, the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the world’s largest scientific organizations, elected a woman as its leader for the very first time. Anna Jane Harrison had served as a chemistry professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts since 1945.
The heavy elements, which include plutonium, are hard to produce and exist only briefly, yet one woman has dedicated her career to capturing and analyzing them, making important discoveries about the nature of nuclear fission.
American biochemist and pharmacologist,who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
A husband-and-wife team of biochemists revolutionized diagnostic urine testing with their invention of an easy-to-use, chemically coated paper dipstick that measures a patient’s blood sugar by changing color when dipped in a urine sample.
Jacqueline Barton probes DNA by shooting electrons through it. Using custom-built molecules to direct these electrical currents, she can locate genes, see how they are arranged, and scan them for damage.
Barton hopes that these techniques will lead to new ways to diagnose diseases and treat them through DNA repair. To further this end she cofounded GeneOhm Sciences in 2001, which became part of Becton, Dickinson and Company in 2006.
American chemist who worked on materials for the space program, reusable molds for spacecraft construction built from molybdenum disilicides and tungsten disilicides, and the disposal and treatment of hazardous wastes.
From the 1940s through the 1960s Louis and Mary Fieser wrote several successful chemistry textbooks, in which they described real applications of chemistry for medicine and industry.
Mary Lowe Good took a public stand as an advocate of science and technology in society. Her advocacy earned her appointments to the National Science Board, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and the Department of Commerce.