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Maria Gaetana Agnesi was by far the most extraordinary mathematician of the 18th century. By the age of twenty she started writing Analytical Institutions as a mathematics textbook for her brothers. When her work was published in 1748, it caused a sensation in the academic world for being a model of clarity and systematic interpretation of the work of various mathematicians. Maria Agnesi is best known for the curve, ironically called the Witch of Agnesi.

Sophie Germain, a French revolutionary decided to study mathematics at the age of 13, after reading the legend of Archimedes' death. Sophie's family, although wealthy tried to dissuade her from the study of math but gave up seeing Sophie's passion for math. Germain is best known for her work on Game theory and the modern theory of elasticity, without which construction of high rise Skyscraper would have been inconceivable. Using her theory Eiffel Tower was erected, but she did not make it to the acknowledgement list of 72 people inscribed on this wonder.

Emy Amalie Noether (1882-1935) of Germany developed the basis of group theory, which is the mathematics behind representation of all modern physics. She was not permitted to hold a paid position, so she researched and taught without pay in German universities. It was her work in the theory of invariants, which led to formulations for several concepts of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Later she worked on ideal theory in abstract algebra, with special attention to rings, groups, and fields. Modern algebra owes much to her work. There is a good deal of circumstantial evidence that Einstein's received assistance from his own first wife Mileva Maric , who was a brilliant mathematician and a physicist.

Florence Sabin (1871-1953) made the spectacular breakthrough in making invisible lymphatic system visible by staining lymphatic fluid with ink. Lilian Morgan (1870-1952) invented the first polio vaccine for primates. Without her work Jonas Salk would not have become a household name. American biologist and early geneticist Nettie Maria Stevens (1861-1912) proved in 1905 that chromosomes determine the sex of organisms. Her work outlined the future of modern genetics research. But the credit for the discovery went to her colleague Edmund B. Wilson. Rosalind Franklin was the unsung hero behind the discovery of double helix of DNA. Franklin used the x-ray diffraction technique to first capture the image of DNA molecule (famous photo 51), too tiny for regular photography. Without Rosalind's knowledge, her boss showed the picture to James Watson. With that image, James Watson and Francis Crick (winners of Nobel Prize for discovery of DNA structure) could solve the mystery of the DNA structure. Barbara McClintock won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of genetic transposition, or the ability of genes to change position on the chromosome.

Maria Goeppart Mayer was one of at least two dozen other women scientists who worked in the secret Manhattan project (1942-44) for making an atomic bomb. She received joint Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for her theoretical analysis of atomic structure. Among them were Leona Marshall Libby and Dr Chien Shiung Wu - the renowned Columbia physicist of Chinese descent. Libby directed the construction of the first thermal column and Wu developed the process of separating Uranium-235 from Uranium-238 by gaseous diffusion. Her work also led to the development of more sensitive Geiger counters. Wu turned the discipline of Atomic Physics on its head by disproving the law of conservation of parity, showing that the laws of nature are not always symmetrical with respect to right and left. Despite their initial doubt, Wu's elegant experiment on beta decay proved Lee and Yang's theory, for which they received the Nobel Prize in 1957, but Wu was not recognised!

Ada Byron (Lady Lovelace), daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron was brought up by her mother to be a scientist and mathematician. Ada collaborated with Charles Babbage and wrote the worlds first computer program in 1843. Babbage devised the plan for Analytical Engine in 1841, a forerunner of modern day computer. Ada's scientific paper anticipated the development and creative use of software (including the very term software) and the analytical machine to compose music, produce graphics, carry out personal and scientific tasks including artificial intelligence. British Government's rejection of Analytical Engine, many believe, set the computer technology by 100 years. One has to wonder what if a Lord, instead of a Lady wrote the paper!

The first electronic all purpose computer called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), also called the Beast, was a thirty-ton box that contained 17,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 6000 switches. Six women mathematicians were carefully selected to run ENIAC out of an initial group of 80 women (18-70 years old) who were hired by the army as "trajectory analysts". This involved enormous amount of tedious calculations. No operating systems, manuals or computer languages existed. In February 1946 ENIAC calculated the trajectory of a 155 mm shell in less time than it had taken for the shell to land! Neither the creators of this machine, nor the US Army mentioned to Reporters the crucial role of these six women in the breakthrough; none were invited in the dinner celebration. Four of the six programmers quit the project, but two - Jean Jennings and Betty Snyder stayed and were later involved in the creation of the UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) - first commercial computer in 1948. Snyder created the C-10 code that allowed simple typewritten commands for programming the device than use of dials and switches. Snyder was also involved in the team that developed COBOL and FORTRAN. To this day no computer history books mention the names of Jean Jennings, Betty Snyder, Kathleen McNulty, Marlyn Wescoff, Frances Bilas and Ruth Lichterman. It wasn't until Kathryn Kleiman made a film recently about these pioneers that the army changed its mind.

Grace Murray Hooper who revolutionized computer software with her invention of first computer compiler COBOL (1952), also coined the term "computer bug". In 1979 Roberta Williams created first Graphics based computer Game called Mystery House. Heidy Lamarr invented a highly innovative anti-jamming communication device for use against Nazi Radar. While the US War department rejected her design, years after her patent has expired, Sylvania redeveloped the system using state-of-art electronics. Her concept of frequency hopping is the basis today's wireless technology, including cellular phones. Women were pioneers in inventing the drug or tools needed for Open Heart Surgery, bone marrow transplant; Kidney transplant, first drugs to treat cancer and AIDS. Rosalyn Yalow developed radioimmunoassay - the basis of nuclear medicine by using radioactive isotopes to diagnose everything from cancer to diabetes. Stephanie Kwolek's discovery of a polymade solvent in 1966 led to the production of fireproof and bulletproof Kevlar. Donna Shirley and her engineering team at NASA captured the imagination of the world when their microwave size invention the Sojourner Truth, rolled across the Martian terrain (July 1997). Her male colleagues were ready to scrap the whole project because the cost of the original pick-up size prototype was prohibitive.

It seems women did the basic groundwork, even pioneered many fields of knowledge that opened the path for many later on, but rarely received the recognition they so rightfully deserved. The fall of women in society also signifies the fall of men and the human society as a whole. Society loses immensely when any individual - man or woman is not allowed the creative freedom to wholly express his/her true calling and unique voice. It is time that we teach our sons and daughters about the invisible contribution of minorities and women toward all human knowledge and discoveries.

About the Author: Susmita Barua is a holistic thinker, philosopher, social entrepreneur and visionary engaged in raising human consciousness. She is committed to empower the individual and transform the planet through her writings, workshops and creative ideas in many fields. Visit her website at www.seek2know.net

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