Sophie Germain

Sophie Germain made a major contributions to number theory (in particular, the theory of primes), acoustics and elasticity.

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Dorothy Maud Wrinch

Dorothy Maud Wrinch was an Argentinian-English-American mathematician and biochemist famous for her use of mathematical techniques to deduce protein structure.

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Doris Clifton Gordon

Throughout her career Doris Gordon had the welfare of mothers and children at heart. She believed her male colleagues in the Health Department did not know what they were talking about when they promoted natural childbirth and claimed that even stitches after a birth ‘do not hurt much’. She wanted the same facilities available for all women, and was convinced that the best services were doctor-controlled.

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Amy Castle

Amy Castle was the first entomologist and the first woman appointed in a professional role in a New Zealand museum. She was also one of the first women to be employed in a scientific position in the New Zealand public service.

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Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was a British mathematician and astronomer who did important work for her Ph.D. at Radcliffe College of Harvard University. She showed that stars were composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium but, although completely correct, it was rejected by astronomers at the time.

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Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat

Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat is a French mathematician and physicist who made important contributions to the general theory of relativity. She was the first woman to be elected to the French Academy of Sciences.

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Lene Hau

Lene Hau is a Danish physicist and mathematician. She has led a team at Harvard University who have slowed light and in 2001 succeeded in stopping a beam of light. This has important applications to quantum computing.

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