Examples of really famous female physicists?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around notable female physicists, exploring their contributions and recognition in the field of physics. Participants mention various individuals and their achievements, reflecting on the criteria for fame and recognition in science.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose names such as Lisa Randall, Fabiola Gianotti, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell as examples of famous female physicists.
  • Marie Curie is highlighted for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes.
  • Rosalind Franklin is mentioned, with a participant noting her contributions to DNA structure, questioning whether she should have shared a Nobel Prize.
  • Henrietta Swan Leavitt is recognized for her discovery of Cepheid Variable stars, which were crucial for measuring cosmic distances.
  • Emmy Noether is introduced, with a reference to Noether's theorem and its significance in physics.
  • Participants discuss the classification of women in physics, mentioning Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat and Sofya Kovalevskaya, and express concerns about historical recognition and credit in mathematics and physics.
  • Dr. Becky is mentioned as a contemporary figure in physics who has gained fame through media appearances and social media presence.
  • Ada Lovelace is brought up as an influential figure in computing, though her primary contributions are outside of physics.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present multiple competing views on what constitutes "really famous" and the criteria for recognition in physics. There is no consensus on the definitions or the significance of the contributions of the individuals mentioned.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions touch on the historical context and classification of women in physics versus mathematics, indicating potential limitations in how contributions are recognized and credited.

Suekdccia
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Such as Lisa Randall, Fabiola Gianotti, Shirley Ann Jackson, Ingrid Daubechies, Donna Strickland or Jocelyn Bell Burnell
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
Marie Curie! she was the first woman to win the Nobel prize and the first person to win two Nobel prizes.
 
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Rosalind Franklin deserves a vote, but y'all will probably call her a physical chemist.
 
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Another example: Emmy Noether.
Quote: "In physics, Noether's theorem explains the connection between symmetry and conservation laws."
 
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I guess it depends on "really famous", in relativity, a well known woman is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Choquet-Bruhat

In relativity (she may be classified as a mathematician, but at her time I don't know what the difference really was) as well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofya_Kovalevskaya

What bothers me about Sofya's history is that you will learn something called the "Cauchy–Kowalevski theorem" in PDEs which not only spells her name wrong, but also gives credit to Cauchy who has so many things already named after him, but he only proved the theorem in a limiting case.

And finally, Cecile Dewitt-Morette:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cécile_DeWitt-Morette

Which her and Yvonne have a book that most graduate students have probably perused:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0444860177/?tag=pfamazon01-20
 
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Hamiltonian299792458 said:
Marie Curie!

Marie Skłodowska-Curie :wink: Sorry, I had to add that *smiles in polish* :oldbiggrin:
 
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Dr Becky. Don't scoff they had on the BBC news for the NASA asteroid deflection thing.

Female ? Check
Physicist? Astro check
Famous? On BBC news and over 350k subs on YT, Check.
Three boxes ticked.
 
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DaveE said:
Rosalind Franklin deserves a vote, but y'all will probably call her a physical chemist.
Watson and Crick need her data to decipher DNA structure. Should she have shared the prize?
 
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  • #12
While completing a math/CS degree at university, I wrote a paper on mathematician Ada Lovelace, the first known female computer programmer, daughter of poet Lord Byron. Ada was famous enough to have computer language Ada named for her.
 
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