Examples of really famous female physicists?

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SUMMARY

This discussion highlights several prominent female physicists, including Marie Curie, who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win two Nobel Prizes. Other notable figures mentioned are Lisa Randall, Fabiola Gianotti, and Rosalind Franklin, who contributed significantly to the understanding of DNA structure. The conversation also references Emmy Noether, known for Noether's theorem, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who discovered Cepheid Variable stars. The discussion emphasizes the importance of recognizing these women's contributions to physics and related fields.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Nobel Prize significance in scientific achievements
  • Familiarity with Noether's theorem and its implications in physics
  • Knowledge of the role of women in the history of science
  • Basic comprehension of astrophysics and the significance of Cepheid Variable stars
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the contributions of Marie Curie to radioactivity and her Nobel Prize-winning work
  • Explore the impact of Noether's theorem on modern physics and mathematics
  • Investigate the historical context and contributions of Rosalind Franklin to molecular biology
  • Learn about the significance of Henrietta Swan Leavitt's work in astronomy and its influence on Hubble's discoveries
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for historians of science, educators in physics, and anyone interested in the contributions of women in STEM fields, particularly in physics and related disciplines.

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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