Celebrating International Day of Women in Science
Our Prep scientists were proud to celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science this week, a global day that recognises the brilliant achievements of women who have helped us understand our world and even the universe beyond it! Year 4 worked with Mrs Hills-Matthews in a special EDGE session to discover more and write a report of any talented women scientists they were really inspired by.
Throughout history, many women in the UK have made extraordinary discoveries, often overcoming significant challenges to do so. Their curiosity, resilience and determination have changed the way we live today.
Did you know some of our Pioneering British Women in Science?
- Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) is often described as the world’s first computer programmer. She wrote the first algorithm for Charles Babbage’s early mechanical computer long before modern computers even existed!
- Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958) used X-ray diffraction to capture images of DNA that were critical to understanding its double-helix structure. She is widely considered deserving of a Nobel Prize for her critical data as it was essential to the DNA findings published by Watson and Crick, who received the award in 1962.
- Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910–1994) became the only British woman to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1964). Her work revealed the structures of important molecules including penicillin and vitamin B12.
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943– ) discovered pulsars which are rapidly spinning neutron stars. She did this while she was still a postgraduate student at Cambridge University. The discovery led to a Nobel Prize for her supervisor, Anthony Hewish in 1974, but not for her.
- Mary Anning (1799–1847) made remarkable fossil discoveries along the Jurassic Coast at Lyme Regis, helping scientists understand prehistoric life. She sourced fossils for famous establishments such as the British Museum, the Geological Society of London and the Bristol Institution, as well as important geologists and palaeontologists of the time including Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Birch, William Buckland, Henry De la Beche, Gideon Mantell, Lord Cole and the King of Saxony,
- Caroline Herschel (1750–1848) discovered eight comets, catalogued 560 previously unrecorded stars and discovered 14 new nebulae, and re-examined (and corrected) the star catalogues of famous astronomers of the time. She was the first woman to be honoured with the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1828) and was elected as an honorary member in 1835.
- In 1945, Kathleen Lonsdale and Marjory Stephenson became the first women ever elected as Fellows of the Royal Society breaking a 285-year tradition of male-only membership.
These women and many others showed great courage, persistence and intellectual bravery at times when girls and women were not encouraged to study sciences, technology or medicine.
Can you help discover our local role models? The Royal Society is creating a special interactive map to celebrate women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) from across the UK both from history and today. You can explore the map here:
https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/women-in-stem/women-stem-history-map/
If you know a place of science connected to an exceptional woman from scientific history or have a suggestion for the Royal Society to include on their interactive map, please use this link to add the information.
There aren’t many names listed in our immediate local area yet, which means there is an exciting opportunity! Families and schools can nominate local women in science to be added to the map. This could include researchers, engineers, doctors, environmental scientists, technologists or mathematicians who are making a difference in our communities. What a wonderful way to celebrate and recognise inspiring women close to home!
At Caterham School, we believe science is for everyone. Curiosity, creativity, independent thinking and collaboration are qualities we encourage in all our pupils from Reception to Sixth Form. So on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we recognise and celebrate the pioneers of the past, the innovators of today, and the scientists of tomorrow.
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