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Celebrating Women in Science

Women have made many notable achievements in the world of science and beyond. However, their accomplishments and rights were not always recognized in the same capacity as their male peers. In 1978, a California school district created Womens History Week, which also coincided with International Womens Day on March 8. What began as a weeklong local activity to celebrate and promote the teaching of womens history, led to Congress passing a resolution in 1981 to make the week a national celebration. Womens History Week continued to grow in popularity and at the request of The National Womens Project, Congress expanded it to include the full month of March.

In honor of this festive occasion we are going to focus on Woman in Science.
How long have woman been active in science?
Well, how long have people been active in science?

The answer is the same for both women and men -- as long as we have been human. One of the defining marks of humanity is our ability to affect and predict our environment. Science - the creation of structure for our world - technology - the use of structure in our world - and mathematics - the common language of structure - all have been part of our human progress, through every step of our path to the present. Women and men together have researched and solved each emerging need.

The first literature appeared some 4,000 years ago. Stone and bone records stretch back further than those first alphabets, but give us no names. The first female to be recorded in technical history was En Hedu'Anna (c.2354 BCE). She was one of the earliest astronomers. She set up many observatories so people could study the stars and moon. She even helped to create one of the first calendars that we still use today.



Image Caption: En Hedu'Anna

Certainly women were questioners and thinkers long before En HeduAnna. Most myths and religions place the beginnings of agriculture, of laws, of civilization, of mathematics, of calendars, time keeping and medicine into the hands of women. Click here to learn more about the history of women in science.

There are so many important women in science today it is hard to just pick one to talk about. Check out, http://www.iwaswondering.org/, an amazing website that highlights women in science. Make sure to check out the timeline and read through the section about 10 cool scientists. These articles are about woman scientists that are making a difference today.

Click here to learn about biomechanist Mimi Koehl and learn how to make a Stretch-O-Meter