The world did not immediately recognize women in science. Only at the beginning of the twentieth century did trends towards equality emerge. The world was swept by the first wave of feminism and the struggle for voting rights women.

Oh times, oh morals!

Today, a woman with a higher education is a fairly common occurrence. Until the mid-19th century in Russia, women's access to science and education was completely denied. For some time, women were allowed to attend lectures at St. Petersburg University as auditors. However, this practice was soon stopped.

In 1878, the Higher Women's Courses were opened - a private educational institution in St. Petersburg. The famous historian Konstantin Nikolaevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was appointed director of the courses. After the name of the first director, the Higher Women's Courses were named Bestuzhevsky. Girls no younger than 21 years old were accepted to the courses. The training took place at three faculties (historical-philological, legal and physical-mathematical) and lasted four years. The training was paid.

Students of the physics and mathematics department were given lectures on mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, mineralogy, crystallography, physical geography.

Graduates of the Higher Women's Courses received the right to teach in women's secondary educational institutions and junior classes in men's educational institutions. The history of this unique educational institution ended in 1918, when it was closed by the Bolsheviks. Many Bestuzhevkas left a significant mark in science, literature and public life Russia. Let's name some famous names.

- Russian writer, twice awarded the State Prize and the Order of Lenin. For many years she was the editor of the Young Guard magazine.

– the first woman in Russia to defend her doctorate in medieval history. Her book is about Richard Lionheart is still popular among scientists.

Sofya Vasilievna Romanskaya- the first woman astronomer, worked at the Pulkovo Observatory.

Sofya Vasilievna Voroshilova-Romanskaya at the zenith telescope of the Pulkovo Observatory

SCIENCE AND GREAT WOMEN

S. V. Kovalevskaya in 1880

In 2015, Russia celebrates the 165th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian scientist Sofia Kovalevskaya.

In science, Sofya Kovalevskaya is remembered most of all as the first in Russia and in Northern Europe female professor and the world's first female professor of mathematics. And as the author of the story “The Nihilist” (1884).

Since in Russian Empire Women did not have the right to enter higher educational institutions, Sophia decided to go to study abroad. To travel abroad, you needed the consent of your parents or husband. Sophia's father was against studying his daughter abroad, so she marries Vladimir Kovalevsky and goes to Germany, where she listens to lectures by one of the most famous mathematicians of the time, the “father of modern analysis” - Karl Weierstrass.

This is followed by receiving a PhD, the birth of a daughter and moving to Russia. Unfortunately, Sophia’s husband soon tragically passes away and the young mother, with her five-year-old daughter in her arms, returns to Berlin to Weierstrass. Tom manages to get Sofya Kovalevskaya a place at Stockholm University, where she, changing her name to Sonya Kovalevsky, becomes a professor in the mathematics department at Stockholm University, with the obligation to lecture in German for the first year, and in Swedish from the second. Soon Kovalevskaya mastered the Swedish language and published her works in this language. mathematical work and literary works.

On January 29, 1891, Kovalevskaya, at the age of 41, died in Stockholm from pneumonia. She was buried in Stockholm at the Northern Cemetery

In 1911, Marie Curie received her second Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of radium and polonium. She received the first Nobel Prize in Physics together with her husband, Pierre Curie, for outstanding achievements in joint research into radiation phenomena. The 1911 award was of extreme importance: for the first time the world openly recognized the equality of women and men as scientists.

Chemist and physicist of Polish origin. In the tablets of the Sorbonne, her name appears first in the list of female teachers.

Marie Curie is the world's first and only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice.

She was awarded the Berthelot Medal of the French Academy of Sciences, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London - the leading scientific society of Great Britain, founded in 1660, the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute, and was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world, including the French medical academy, received 20 honorary degrees.

“There is nothing in life that can inspire fear, there is only something that needs to be better understood,” Marie Curie once said. Her daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie, followed in her mother's footsteps and also received the Nobel Prize in 1935.

Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Marie Curie founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw. Pierre Curie's wife worked with him on radioactivity research. Together with her husband, she discovered the elements radium (from the Latin radium - radiant) and polonium (from the Latin polonium - Polish - as a tribute to the homeland of Maria Sklodowska).

Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw. Her childhood was marred by the early loss of one of her sisters and, soon after, her mother. Even as a schoolgirl, she was distinguished by her extraordinary diligence and hard work. She strived to do the job in the most thorough manner, without any inaccuracies, often at the expense of sleep and regular nutrition. She studied so intensively that, after finishing school, she was forced to take a break to improve her health. Maria sought to continue her education.

However, in the Russian Empire, which at that time included part of Poland along with Warsaw, women's opportunities to obtain higher scientific education were limited.

Maria worked for several years as a teacher-governess. At the age of 24, with support older sister, she was able to go to the Sorbonne in Paris, where she studied chemistry and physics. Maria Sklodowska became the first female teacher in the history of this famous university.

— Soviet mathematician, known for her work in the field of trigonometric series. Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1935), Professor at Moscow State University. I became interested in mathematics back in high school. In 1918, she entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Moscow State University - one of the first women to enter this faculty at Moscow University. The mathematical talent of N.K. Bari was noticed by Professor N.N. Luzin, and soon she became one of his prominent students and an active participant in his seminar - a member of the Lusitania.

N. K. Bari obtained her first results on set theory back in student years, when I was in my third year at university. In 1925, she graduated from graduate school at Moscow University, and in January of the following year she defended her PhD thesis on the topic “On the uniqueness of trigonometric expansions.” Since 1927 she has been a member of the French and Polish Mathematical Societies. In 1927, in Paris, she actively participated in Hadamard's seminar.

- Soviet historian of science, mathematician, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1961), professor (1962), full member of the International Academy of the History of Science (1971). In 1932, she moved to Moscow with her parents. Father - Grigory Georgievich Bashmakov, a student of P. I. Novgorodtsev, head of the Moscow school of legal philosophy, worked as a lawyer in Moscow. Mother - Anna Ivanovna, nee Aladzhalova. Isabella Bashmakova has been interested in poetry since childhood, especially giving preference to Pushkin and Tyutchev. She was personally acquainted with Pasternak and many other, less famous poets. She wrote poetry herself and spent a long time choosing between mathematics or poetry. In 1938, she nevertheless entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University.

For my long life, Isabella Grigorievna trained more than 20 candidates of science. And the results of her scientific research were included in general courses on the history of mathematics.

In 1997, he was awarded the title of Honored Professor of Moscow University.

Olga Arsenyevna Oleynik- Soviet mathematician, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1991), Head of the Department of Differential Equations of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. Editor-in-chief of the “Proceedings of the Moscow Mathematical Society” and deputy editor-in-chief of the journal “Uspekhi Matematicheskikh Nauk.”

O. A. Oleinik’s contribution to mathematics has received international recognition. Her works are cited in many Western and Russian scientific monographs and articles. During her life she published more than 359 articles. A huge number of state awards and prizes.

This also happened...

There is a special page in the history of Moscow State University, associated with the military fates of women and girls who came to aviation from university classrooms and fought the Nazis on combat aircraft. The Women's Aviation Regiment began to be formed in September 1941 on the initiative of Marina Raskova.

23 pilots and navigators of the 46th guards regiment were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, among them 5 are students of Moscow State University.

One of the few military photographs of the navigator of the Hero of the Soviet Union aircraft, Evgenia Rudneva

She made 780 flights, and after the war she taught mathematics at the Moscow Higher Technical School.

Navigators of the 46th aviation regiment of night bombers Hero of the Soviet Union E.B. Pasko, Hero of the Soviet Union L.N. Litvinova (Rozanova) and O.F. Yakovlev during a meeting with students and teachers of the Moscow Textile Institute named after A.N. Kosygina. Moscow. 1985 Author V. Patrikeev

She took to the skies 848 times and taught at the Institute after the war. foreign languages.

Soviet pilots Rufina Gasheva and Natalya Meklin near Po-2 aircraft

She made 890 sorties, after the war she returned to Moscow State University, graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences and taught at the Printing Institute.

Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Lieutenant Ekaterina Ryabova, pilot of the Taman Aviation Regiment, is preparing for another combat mission.

Polina Gelman flew 857 missions and graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages.

From left to right: pilot Polina Gelman, physicist Pelageya Kochina, physiologist Lina Stern, opera singer Deborah Pantofel-Nieczetzka, mid-1940s

The fact that education was previously inaccessible to women now makes us smile. In British schools today, female students are as rated as students, and public organizations(well, something like “Women in Science”, WISE - Women into Science, Engineering and Construction) dispels the already familiar stereotypes that doing science is a purely male privilege.

For example, something like a seminar on knowledge exchange in mathematics - “She’s geeky” - is being held in San Francisco for the fifth time! (Literally translated, “geeky” can mean “obsessed, crazy, obsessed”, only in in a good way, in general, this is exactly what can be applied to a scientist - think about science constantly, otherwise this activity loses its meaning. I remember that 2010 Nobel laureate Kostya Novoselov answered a journalist’s question about free time: he simply doesn’t have it, he’s always in the laboratory).

An annual women's award, The UKRC Women of Outstanding Achievement Award, has also been established for achievements in various fields of science and technology.

Time has shown that a woman can most fully reveal her capabilities and be useful not only to her family, but also to society, if she is given such an opportunity.

@Pavel Klyuev, @Anna Fedulova

Women chemists

From the history of the development of chemistry

IN XIX century women in Russia were not allowed to enter higher education institutions, and those who sought higher education had to go abroad or study science on their own.

The first woman in the world to publish research in chemistry was Anna Fedorovna Volkova(year of birth unknown, died in 1876). Since 1869, she worked in the chemical laboratory of the St. Petersburg Agricultural Institute under A.N. Engelhardt. Under the leadership of D.I. Mendeleev, she conducted practical classes with students of the Vladimir Women's Courses (St. Petersburg). For outstanding research in the field of chemistry, she was accepted as a member of the Russian Chemical Society, and edited the journal of this society. In 1876, drugs synthesized by Russian scientists were exhibited at the World Industrial Exhibition in London. Among them were substances obtained by Volkova.

IN activities of the “Journal of the Russian Chemical Society”* actively participated and Vera Evstafievna Bogdanovskaya(1867–1896). She was an assistant to the editor-in-chief N.A. Menshutkin. Bogdanovskaya took part in the preparation of the posthumous edition of A.M. Butlerov’s book “Introduction to the Complete Study of Organic Chemistry”, and also wrote the “Elementary Textbook of Chemistry” (the original is stored in local history museum in Sosnitsa, Chernihiv region).

Among the natural sciences, Bogdanovskaya was also interested in entomology; in 1889 she wrote interesting essay"Bees." Great place Her life was occupied by literary and artistic activity: she translated stories from French into Russian and from Russian into French, wrote several interesting stories and short stories that were published in magazines of that time. In 1898, a collection was published in St. Petersburg literary works Bogdanovskaya.

Writer V. Veresaev recalls: “It was enviable to listen to how much knowledge, wit and resourcefulness she had. Vera Evstafievna was an outstanding person. After graduating from the Bestuzhev courses, she subsequently went abroad, received a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Geneva, and taught stereochemistry at the St. Petersburg Higher Women’s Courses.”

Vera Evstafievna lived in the Vyatka province since 1895. Here, true to her calling, she created a small laboratory at the Izhevsk plant, where she led scientific research. Her last work was the preparation of a phosphorus analogue of hydrocyanic acid. For research, sealed glass tubes were used that were heated to high temperatures. On April 25, 1896, one of the tubes ruptured and injured Vera Evstafievna’s hand. Poisoning with highly toxic hydrogen phosphide (phosphine) resulted in rapid death.

The article was published with the support of the federal network training centers"Hodograph". Unified State Exam (USE) and GIA (OGE) courses - preparation for such school disciplines such as mathematics, Russian language, social studies, physics, chemistry, biology, English language, literature, history, computer science. Mini groups different levels with individual programs, monitoring student progress. To know detailed information You can find out about courses, prices and contacts on the website, which is located at: http://godege.ru.

V.E. Bogdanovskaya was buried in the village. Shabalinovo, Koropsky district, Chernigov region.

P having received higher education in Germany, Yulia Vsevolodovna Lermontova(1846–1919) carried out a number of works at the request of D.I. Mendeleev, translated his works into French and German languages. With the rank of Doctor of Chemistry, she returned to Russia, where she worked together with V.V. Markovnikov in Moscow, and then with A.M. Butlerov in St. Petersburg. Lermontova's most significant works relate to organic chemistry. Lermontova's research contributed to the emergence of the first Russian oil and gas plants. Her work is still used today, for example, for the synthesis of high-octane hydrocarbons. Since 1875, Lermontova’s name has been officially included in the list of members of the Russian Chemical Society.

E the only female chemist, twice awarded the Nobel Prize for her work in the field of physics (1903) and chemistry (1911), – Maria Skłodowska-Curie(1867–1934). The discoveries she made laid the foundation new era in the history of mankind - the development of inexhaustible reserves of energy hidden in the nuclei of atoms of chemical elements.

No female scientist was as popular as Marie Curie. She was awarded 10 scientific prizes and 16 medals. She was an honorary member of 106 academies, scientific institutions and societies. In 1926, Maria Sklodowska-Curie was elected an honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. And besides, she was so modest that A. Einstein uttered memorable words on this occasion: “Marie Curie of all people in the world the only person, not spoiled by glory."

Youngest daughter Marie Curie - Eva wrote in her book about her mother: “Madame Curie is a living bibliography on radium: fluent in five languages, she read all the published works on research in this field. ...Marie has an invaluable ability to understand the tangled tangles of knowledge and hypotheses.” Marie Curie said about herself: “I am one of the people who think that science is a great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not just a technician: he is a child, face to face with natural phenomena that act on him like a fairy tale.” For her, extracting a gram of radium from a thousand tons of ore and studying its properties over many years was true poetry. In 1911, Marie Sklodowska-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize “for outstanding services in the development of chemistry: the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element.”

C Marie Curie's eldest daughter Irene Joliot-Curie(1897–1956) – an outstanding scientist in the field of radiochemistry. After graduating from the University of Paris, she worked in her mother’s laboratory and became her successor - she later headed the department at the University of Paris. Her work played a major role in the history of the discovery and research of the fission reaction of atomic nuclei. In 1935, the couple Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize for their synthesis of new radioactive elements.

IN 1947 The Royal Society of London elected a 37-year-old Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin(1910–1994) by its member. This is the first time a woman has received this honor.

Dorothy Hodgkin began her research in 1933 together with Professor John Bernal, who said about her: “Without being such an outstanding personality as Dorothy Hodgkin was from the very beginning of her scientific career, one cannot be awarded such a high award.”

For several years, Professor Hodgkin studied the structure of the penicillin molecule and refined its chemical formula.

But Hodgkin’s work on deciphering the structure of the vitamin B 12 molecule brought him the greatest fame. As a result of this complex research, which required more than eight years of dedicated work, B 12 crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis were obtained for the first time. In 1964, English professor Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin was awarded the Nobel Prize for “x-ray structural determination of the structure of vitamin B 12 and other important biochemical objects.”

Literature

Baykova V.M. Chemistry after school. To help the school. Petrozavodsk: Karelia, 1976, p. 147–152; Goldansky V.I., Chernenko M.B. Marie Sklodowska-Curie (on the 100th anniversary of her birth). Chemistry and Life, 1967, No. 12, p. 27; Musabekov Yu.S.. Yulia Vsevolodovna Lermontova, 1846–1919. M.: Nauka, 1967; Musabekov Yu.S.. The first Russian women chemists. Chemistry and Life, 1968, No. 3, p. 12; Sergeeva I. Yulia Lermontova. Chemistry and Life, 1966, No. 1, p. 8; http://www.alhimikov.net/laureat/laureat.html.

M.A. GOLOVAKHINA,
chemistry teacher of secondary school No. 20
(p. Psebay, Mostovsky district,
Krasnodar region)

* Since 1878 it was called the “Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society”.

At all times, there has been an opinion in the world that the female sex and science are incompatible things. However, women scientists who have contributed to human development at all stages of history challenge this unfair treatment.

Scientists women of the ancient world

Even when civilization was at its very beginning, representatives of the fairer sex rarely had the opportunity to engage in science. Most women scientists lived in ancient Greece, despite the strict patriarchy that reigned there.

The most famous representative of the scientific community was Hypatia, who lived in this country at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century AD. e. She was the daughter of the famous scientist Theon of Alexandria, as a result of which she had access to education. In addition to the fact that she taught subjects such as philosophy, mathematics and astronomy in Alexandria, on which she wrote scientific works. Hypatia was also an inventor: she created such scientific devices as the still, the astrolabe and the hydrometer.

Ancient female scientists also lived in other countries. Information about Maria Prophetissa, who lived in the 1st century AD, has reached our time. e. in Jerusalem. Practicing alchemy, following the example of most scientists of that time, she made a significant contribution to the development of modern chemistry. It was she who invented the system for heating liquids in a steam bath and the first prototype of a distillation cube.

Discoveries made by women scientists

Despite strict restrictions on access to knowledge, representatives of the fairer sex continued to work on their inventions. Many scientific concepts, terms, as well as various devices that we use in modern world, was created by women scientists.

So, the first steps in programming belong to the lady. Lady Augusta Ada Byron (1815-1851), daughter of the famous poet, at the age of 17 invented three programs that demonstrated the analytical capabilities of the adding machine. This was the beginning of programming. One of the ADA programming languages ​​is named after her, in addition, professional holiday Representatives of this profession consider the birthday of this unusually smart girl to be December 10th.

When discussing the topic “The First Women Scientists,” one cannot fail to mention the outstanding representative of her time, Marie Curie (1867-1934). She is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize twice and the only scientist in the world to win it in two different fields. She and her husband, with whom they had not only a family, but also a creative union, highlighted chemical element polonium. In addition, it belongs to them for which they received the highest award in the field of physics. The next award, in chemistry, she earned herself, after the death of her husband, continuing hard work and highlighting pure form radium.

It was her idea to use it in medicine to treat scars and various tumors. When did the first one begin? world war, she was the first to create X-ray machines that could be portable. The chemical element curie, as well as the unit of measurement of radioactivity, the Curie, were subsequently named in honor of the spouses.

List of great women

Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000) is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, at the same time possessing undoubted intelligence and ingenuity. Having been married against her will to Fritz Mandl, who was involved in the arms business, she ran away from him to America, where she began her career as an actress. During the war, she developed an interest in radio-controlled torpedoes and offered her development assistance to the National Council of Inventors. Given the attitude towards women, officials did not want to deal with her. However, due to the great popularity of the actress, they could not simply refuse her. So she was asked to assist the council by selling a huge amount of bonds. Heady's ingenuity helped her raise more than 17 million. She announced that anyone who bought bonds worth at least 25 thousand would receive a kiss from her. In 1942, she, along with composer George Antheil, invented the theory of jumping heights. This discovery was not appreciated then, but in the modern world it is used everywhere: in mobile phones, Wi-Fi 802.11 and GPS.

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992) is a great scientist who first discovered the movement of genes. It was she who first described ring chromosomes, which only many years later began to be used to explain genetic diseases. Barbara received her well-deserved Nobel Prize only 30 years later, at the age of 81. By that time, the already middle-aged woman, a prominent scientist, told the whole world about her research and the results obtained.

Scientists women of Russia

The development of science in Russia is also impossible to imagine without women, who made a huge contribution to it.

Ermolyeva Zinaida Vissarionovna (1898-1974) - an outstanding microbiologist and epidemiologist. It was she who created antibiotics - medicines without which it is impossible to imagine modern medicine. Surprisingly, in order to do your own scientific discovery, a 24-year-old girl infected herself fatal disease- cholera. Knowing that if a cure was not found, her days would be numbered, she was still able to cure herself. Much later, 20 years later, during the war, this already middle-aged woman, a prominent scientist, saved besieged Stalingrad from a cholera epidemic. Having been awarded, she then invested all the reward she received into the plane. Soon a fighter jet bearing the name of this amazing woman was already flying across the sky.

Anna Adamovna Krausskaya (1854-1941) made a huge contribution to the development of anatomy. She received the title of professor without defending a dissertation and became the first woman in Russia to be awarded such an honorary scientific status.

Vasilyevna (1850-1891), a Russian mathematician and mechanic, made an equally significant contribution to science.

She did a lot for these branches of science, but the main discovery is considered to be research on the rotation of a heavy asymmetrical top. It is interesting that Sofya Vasilievna became the only lady at that time to receive the title of professor of higher mathematics in Northern Europe. By personal example, this wise Russian woman teaches that success and knowledge do not depend on gender.

World-renowned learned ladies

Almost every country can boast of great women who have brought about significant changes in science.

Among the representatives of the fair sex, about whom the whole world knows, sounds the name of Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964), a biologist who was closely involved in the problems environment. In 1962, this already middle-aged woman, a prominent scientist, developed an essay on the impact of pesticides on agriculture, which excited the scientific world. Her book, The Silent War, led to a furious attack from the chemical industry, which spent huge amounts of money harassing Rachel. It was this book that became the impetus for the creation of many social movements on environmental protection.

Charlotte Gilman (1860-1935) is one of the founders of the feminist movement in the world. Thanks to her outstanding literary talent, she was able to draw public attention to the oppressed position of women.

Unrecognized research by women scientists

Public opinion persistently demeaned and exaggerated the role of women. The learned ladies did not intend to stop their research, although they found many obstacles along the way. In particular, obtaining scientific titles, unlike their male colleagues, was very difficult for them.

Rosalind Franklin's (1920-1958) DNA research was a great success, but was never recognized during her lifetime.

Also, few people know that the origins of creation nuclear weapons stood a representative of the fairer sex - Lise Meitner (1878-1968). She split the uranium nucleus and concluded a chain reaction capable of generating a huge release of energy.

The possibility of creating the most powerful weapon in the world caused a tremendous resonance in society. However, being a staunch pacifist, Lisa stopped her research, refusing to make a bomb. The result was that her work was not recognized, and her colleague Otto Hahn received the Nobel Prize instead.

Discoveries of women scientists

It is difficult to overestimate the contribution that women scientists have made to the development of world science. At the origins of many modern theories It was the representatives of the fairer sex who stood, whose names were often not made public. In addition to the listed achievements, women made such discoveries as:

• first comet - Maria Mitchell (1847);
• common evolutionary roots of man and ape - Jane Goodall (1964);
• periscope - Sarah Mather (1845);
• car muffler - El Dolores Jones (1917);
• dishwasher - Josephine Garys Cochrane (1914);
• typo corrector - Betty Graham (1956), and many others.

Contribution to world science

It is unthinkable to imagine science and its development by the craziest representatives of the fairer sex who promoted it at all stages of human development. Women scientists around the world have contributed to fields such as:

• physics;
• chemistry;
• medicine;
• philosophy;
• literature.

Unfortunately, the names of all the ladies who worked for the benefit of humanity have not reached us, however, we can say with confidence that their work is worthy of respect.

Attitudes towards women scientists in the modern world

Thanks to the fairer sex, who have proven their right to engage in science over and over again, modern society has finally recognized the equality of the sexes. Today, men and women work side by side, continuing to work towards the development of humanity. Earning a degree or award for women may no longer seem impossible, but the path to this attitude has been long and difficult.

The smartest women of the 20th century

Famous women scientists still work today.

Lina Solomonovna Stern, a biochemist and physiologist, became the first woman admitted to the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Skorokhodova Olga Ivanovna is an elderly woman, a prominent scientist. The essay on the characteristics of the deaf-blind is still cited in scientific circles. A talented defectologist, the only deaf-mute female scientist in the world.

Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya Olga Antonovna, Russian and Soviet historian and writer, who became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Ladygina-Kots Nadezhda Nikolaevna is the first scientific zoopsychologist in Russia.

Pavlova Maria Vasilievna, the first paleontologist.

Glagoleva-Arkadyeva Alexandra Andreevna, physicist scientist. This lady gained worldwide fame and became a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

Sergeevna, translator and linguist, who founded the Society of Oriental Studies, of which she later became the honorary chairman.

Lermontova Yulia Vsevolodovna, who fully justified her famous name, however, in a different area. She was the first woman chemist to be awarded a PhD.

Klado Tatyana Nikolaevna is the first female aerologist both in Russia and in the world.

Having become the first in their field, they set a worthy example to many. Both the Fatherland and world science, appreciating the contributions they made.

Conclusion

Despite the difficulties, women scientists worked hard to prove their right to equality. And the movement of progress that they made possible is difficult to overestimate. These smartest women immortalized their names in their discoveries, becoming an example of perseverance and courage.

The world did not immediately recognize women in science. Only at the beginning of the 20th century did trends towards equality emerge. The world was swept by the first wave of feminism and the fight for women's suffrage. In 1911for the discovery of radium and poloniumMarie Curie receives her second Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She received the first Nobel Prize in Physics together with her husband, Pierre Curie, for outstanding achievements in joint research into radiation phenomena. The 1911 award was of extreme importance: for the first time the world openly recognized the equality of women and men as scientists.

Women of Science

Marie Curie. Chemist and physicist of Polish origin. In the tablets of the Sorbonne, her name appears first in the list of female teachers. Marie Curie is the world's first and only woman to twice win the Nobel Prize. She was awarded the Berthelot Medal of the French Academy of Sciences, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London - the leading scientific society of Great Britain, founded back in 1660, the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute, was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world, including the French Academy of Medicine, received 20 honorary degrees. “There is nothing in life that can inspire fear, there is only something that needs to be better understood,” Marie Curie once said . Her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, followed in her mother's footsteps and also received the Nobel Prize in 1935.

In 2010, Russia celebrated the 160th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian scientist Sofia Kovalevskaya, a foreign corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the first female mathematician professor. Since in the Russian Empire women did not have the right to enter higher educational institutions, Sophia decided to go to study abroad. To travel abroad, you needed the consent of your parents or husband. Sophia's father was against his daughter's education abroad, so she marries Vladimir Kovalevsky and leaves for Germany, where she listens to lectures by Weierstrass himself. This is followed by receiving a PhD, the birth of a daughter and moving to Russia. Unfortunately, Sophia’s husband soon tragically passes away and the young mother, with her five-year-old daughter in her arms, goes to Berlin to visit Weierstrass. Tom manages to get Sofya Kovalevskaya a place at Stockholm University.

There is a special page in the history of Moscow University associated with the military destinies of women and girls who came to aviation from university classrooms and fought the Nazis on combat aircraft.The women's aviation regiment began to form in September 1941 on the initiative of Marina Raskova. 23 pilots and navigators of the 46th Guards Regiment were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, among them 5 were students of Moscow State University. Evgenia Rudneva died on April 9, 1944, making her 645th combat mission. Evdokia Pasko flew 780 missions and taught mathematics at the Moscow Higher Technical School after the war. Rufina Gasheva took to the skies 848 times, and after the war she taught at the Institute of Foreign Languages. Ekaterina Ryabova made 890 flights, after the war she returned to Moscow State University, graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences and taught at the Printing Institute. Polina Gelman flew 857 flights and graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages.

Times are changing

Today, a woman with a higher education is a fairly common occurrence. Until the mid-19th century in Russia, women's access to science and education was completely denied. For some time, women were allowed to attend lectures at St. Petersburg University as auditors. However, this practice was soon stopped. In 1878, the Higher Women's Courses were opened - a private educational institution in St. Petersburg. The famous historian Konstantin Nikolaevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was appointed director of the courses. After the name of the first director, the Higher Women's Courses were named Bestuzhevsky. Girls no younger than 21 years old were accepted to the courses. The training took place at three faculties (historical-philological, legal and physical-mathematical) and lasted four years. The training was paid. Students of the physics and mathematics department were given lectures on mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, mineralogy, crystallography, and physical geography. Graduates of the Higher Women's Courses received the right to teach in women's secondary educational institutions and junior classes in men's educational institutions. The history of this unique educational institution ended in 1918, when it was closed by the Bolsheviks. Many Bestuzhevkas left a significant mark on science, literature and public life in Russia. Let's name some famous names. Anna Aleksandrovna Karavaeva is a Russian writer, twice awarded the State Prize and the Order of Lenin. For many years she was the editor of the magazine “Young Guard”. Olga Antonovna Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya is the first woman in Russia to defend her doctorate in medieval history. Her book about Richard the Lionheart is still popular among scholars. Sofya Vasilievna Romanskaya became the first female astronomer and worked at the Pulkovo Observatory.

The fact that education was previously inaccessible to women now makes us smile. Today, in British schools, female students are not inferior in rating to students, and public organizations (well, something like “Women in Science”, WISE - Women into Science, Engineering and Construction) dispel the already familiar stereotypes that doing science is a purely male privilege. For example, something like a seminar on knowledge exchange in mathematics - "She"s geeky" - is being held in San Francisco for the fifth time! (Literally translated, “geeky” can mean “obsessed, crazy, obsessed”, only in a good sense, in general, this is exactly what can be applied to a scientist - think about science constantly, otherwise this activity loses its meaning. I remember, Nobel lazreat 2010 Kostya Novoselov answered a journalist’s question about free time: he simply doesn’t have it, he’s always in the laboratory). An annual women's award, The UKRC Women of Outstanding Achievement Award, has also been established for achievements in various fields of science and technology.

Online

With the advent of the Internet, keeping an online diary - a blog - is becoming increasingly popular. The blogosphere acts like a magnet: both the length of content and the number of bloggers increase. For example, interesting notes on the role of women in science on the Nature Network blog (“Stereotyped?”, what is it worth “I AM A SERIOUS SCIENTIST! THAT I HAVE STUDIED FOR OVER TEN YEARS AT A FAMOUS UNIVERSITY AND THAT I HOLD THE HIGHEST ACADEMICAL DEGREE POSSIBLE IN THIS COUNTRY!”, for the author, even feminism is not an option , it’s too depressing, it’s better to have light blue, shocking pink or bright orange blouses). Discussions about women in science and beyond also take place on LiveJournal.

I would like to wish all women every success, and to those representatives of the fair sex who nevertheless decided to take up this difficult task - science - discoveries in their chosen field. After all, in fact, everyone can find something to their liking, and this does not depend at all on who you were born into.

It is believed that the discoveries made by women did not affect the development of mankind and were rather the exception to the rule. Useful little things or things that men didn't finish, such as a car muffler (El Dolores Jones, 1917) or windshield wipers (Mary Anderson, 1903). Housewife Marion Donovan made history by sewing a waterproof diaper (1917); Frenchwoman Herminie Cadolle patented a bra in 1889. Women allegedly invented food freezing (Mary Angel Penington, 1907), the microwave oven (Jessie Cartwright), snow removal machines (Cynthia Westover, 1892), and dishwashing machines (Josephine Cochrane, 1886).

In their know-how, ladies appear as an intellectual minority who frivolously enjoy coffee filters (Merlitta Benz, 1909), chocolate chip cookies(Ruth Wakefield, 1930) and Nicole Clicquot's pink champagne, while rugged men grind microscope lenses, plow open spaces and build colliders. Women have few fundamental discoveries and scientific insights, and even in this case they have to share laurels with men. Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920-1957), who discovered the DNA double helix, shared the Nobel Prize with three male colleagues without receiving official recognition. Physicist Maria Mayer (1906 - 1972), having completed all the work on modeling the atomic nucleus, “treated” two of her colleagues to the Nobel Prize. And yet, in some cases, a woman's intuition, ingenuity and ability to work hard produced more than a hat or a salad.

Hypatia of Alexandria (355-415)

Hypatia, daughter of the mathematician Theon of Alexandria, is the world's first female astronomer, philosopher and mathematician. According to contemporaries, she surpassed her father in mathematics and introduced the terms hyperbola, parabola and ellipse. In philosophy she had no equal. At the age of 16 she founded the school of Neoplatonism. She taught the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, mathematics, and was involved in the calculation of astronomical tables at the Alexandria School. It is believed that Hypatia invented or improved the distiller, a device for measuring the density of water, a hydrometer, an astrolabe, a hydroscope and a planisphere - a flat movable map of the sky. Primacy in the invention of the astrolabe (an instrument for astronomical measurements, which is called the stargazer's computer) is disputed. At a minimum, Hypatia and her father modified the astrolabon of Claudius Ptolemy, and her letters describing the device have also been preserved. Hypatia is the only woman depicted in Raphael's famous fresco "The School of Athens", surrounded by the greatest scientists and philosophers.

Ari Allenby's article An Astronomical Murder?, published in 2010 in the journal Astronomy and Geophysics, examines the version of the political murder of the pagan Hypatia. In those days, the Alexandrian and Roman churches set the date for celebrating Easter according to different calendars. Easter was supposed to fall on the first Sunday after the full moon, but not earlier in the day spring equinox. Different dates for the celebration could cause conflict in cities with a mixed population, so it is possible that both branches of the single church turned to the secular authorities for a solution. Hypatia determined the equinox by the time of sunrise and sunset. Without knowing about atmospheric refraction, she might have gotten the date wrong. Because of such discrepancies, the Alexandrian Church lost its primacy in determining Easter throughout the Roman Empire. According to Allenby, this could provoke a conflict between Christians and pagans. Enraged citizens burned the Library of Alexandria, killed the prefect Orestes, tore Hypatia to pieces and expelled the Jewish community. Later, scientists left the city.

Lady Augusta Ada Byron (1815-1851)

“The Analytical Engine does not pretend to create anything truly new. The machine can do everything that we can tell it to do.”

When Lord Byron's daughter was born, the poet was worried that God would not endow the child with poetic talent. But little Ada inherited from her mother Annabella Minbank, popularly known as the “Princess of Parallelograms,” a gift more valuable than writing. She had access to the beauty of numbers, the magic of formulas and the poetry of calculations. The best teachers taught Ada exact sciences. At the age of 17, a beautiful and intelligent girl met Charles Babbage. A Cambridge University professor presented a model of his calculating machine to the public. While the aristocrats gazed at the mixture of gears and levers, like a native looking at a mirror, a smart girl bombarded Babbage with questions and offered her help. Completely fascinated, the professor instructed her to translate from Italian the essays about the machine recorded by the engineer Manabrea. Ada completed the work and added 52 pages of translator's notes and three programs demonstrating the analytical capabilities of the device to the text. This is how programming appeared.

One program solved the system linear equations- in it, Ada introduced the concept of a work cell and the ability to change its contents. Another was calculating trigonometric function- for this Ada defined a cycle. The third found Bernoulli numbers using recursion. Here are some of her assumptions: an operation is any process that changes mutual relationship two or more things. The operation does not depend on the object to which it is applied. Actions can be performed not only on numbers, but also on any objects that can be designated. “The essence and purpose of the machine will change depending on what information we put into it. The machine will be able to write music, draw pictures and show science ways that we have never seen anywhere.”

The design of the machine became more complicated, the project dragged on for nine years, and in 1833, having received no results, the British government stopped funding... Only a hundred years later the first working computer would appear, and it would turn out that Ada Lovelace’s programs worked. In another 50 years, the planet will be populated by programmers, and everyone will write their first “Hello, World!” The Difference Engine was built in 1991, on the 200th anniversary of Babbage's birth. The ADA programming language is named after Countess Lovelace. On her birthday, December 10, programmers all over the world celebrate their professional holiday.

Marie Curie (1867-1934)

“There is nothing in life to be afraid of, there is only something to understand”

Maria Sklodowska was born in Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire. At that time women could get higher education only in Europe. To earn money to study in Paris, Maria worked as a governess for eight years. At the Sorbonne she received two diplomas (in physics and mathematics) and married her colleague Pierre Curie. Together with her husband she was engaged in radioactivity research. To isolate a substance with unusual properties, they manually processed tons of uranium ore. In July 1989, the couple discovered an element that Maria named polonium. Radium was discovered in December. After four years of grueling work, Maria finally isolated a decigram of the substance emitting a pale glow, and told her opponents its atomic weight - 225. In 1903, the Curie spouses and Henri Becquerel were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of radioactivity. All 70 thousand francs went to pay debts for uranium ore and laboratory equipment. At that time, a gram of radium cost 750 thousand francs in gold, but the Curies decided that the discovery belonged to humanity, abandoned the patent and made their method public. Three years later, Pierre died, and Marie herself continued her research.

She was the first woman professor in France and taught students the world's first course on radioactivity. But when Marie Curie put forward her candidacy for the Academy of Sciences, pundits voted “against”. On voting day, the President of the Academy told the gatekeepers: “Let everyone through except women”... In 1911, Maria isolated radium in pure metallic form, and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Marie Curie became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize twice and the only scientist to win the prize in different fields of science. Maria suggested using radium in medicine - for the treatment of scar tissue and cancer. During the First World War, she created 220 portable X-ray units (they were called “little Curies”). The chemical element curium and the unit of measurement of radioactivity, the Curie, are named in honor of Marie and Pierre. Madame Curie always wore an ampoule with precious radium particles around her neck as a talisman. Only after her death from leukemia did it become clear that radioactivity could be dangerous to humans.

Heady Lamar (1913 - 2000)

“Any girl can be charming. All you have to do is stand still and look stupid."

The face of Hedy Lamar may seem familiar to designers - ten years ago, her portrait was on the Corel Draw screensaver. One of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, was born in Austria. In her youth, the actress got into trouble - she starred in a film with an explicit sex scene. For this, Hitler called her a disgrace to the Reich, the pontiff urged Catholics not to watch the film, and her parents quickly married her to Fritz Mandl. The husband was engaged in the arms business and did not separate from his wife for a second. The girl was present at her husband’s meetings with Hitler and Mussolini, at meetings of industrialists, and observed the production of weapons. She ran away from her husband, gave the servant sleeping pills and dressed in her dress, and went to America. It started in Hollywood new life under a new name. Hedy Lamar brought blondes to the big screen and made an excellent career, earning $30 million on the set. During the war, the actress became interested in radio-controlled torpedoes and contacted the US National Council of Inventors. Officials, in order to get rid of the beauty, handed her bonds to sell. Hady announced that she would kiss anyone who bought bonds worth more than $25,000. And collected 17 million.

In 1942, Hedy Lamar and avant-garde composer George Antheil patented frequency hopping technology - the Secret Communication System. About this invention we can say “Music inspired.” Antheil experimented with pianolas, bells and propellers. Watching the composer try to make them sound in sync, Heady came to a decision. A signal with the target coordinates is transmitted to the torpedo over one frequency - it can be intercepted and the torpedo redirected. But if the transmission channel is changed randomly and the transmitter and receiver are synchronized, then the data will be protected. Examining the drawings and description of the operating principle, the officials joked: “Do you want to put a piano in a torpedo?” The invention was not implemented due to the unreliability of the mechanical components, but was useful in the electronics era. The patent became the basis for spread spectrum communications, which are used today everywhere from mobile phones up to Wi-Fi 802.11 and GPS. The actress's birthday on November 9 is called Inventor's Day in Germany.

Barbara McClintock (1902-1992)

“For many years, I really enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to defend my ideas, but could just work with great pleasure.”

Geneticist Barbara McClintock discovered gene movement in 1948. Only 30 years after the discovery, at 81, Barbara McClintock received the Nobel Prize, becoming the third woman to be Nobel laureate. While studying the effects of X-rays on corn chromosomes, McClintock discovered that some genetic elements could change their position on the chromosomes. She suggested that there are mobile genes that suppress or change the action of genes neighboring them. Colleagues reacted to the message with some hostility. Barbara's conclusions contradicted the provisions of the chromosome theory. It was generally accepted that the position of the gene is stable, and mutations are a rare and random phenomenon. Barbara continued her research for six years and persistently published her results, but the scientific world ignored her. She took up teaching, training cytologists from South American countries. In the 1970s, methods became available to scientists that made it possible to isolate genetic elements, and Barbara McClintock was proven right.

Barbara McClintock developed a method for visualizing chromosomes and, using microscopic analysis, made many fundamental discoveries in cytogenetics. She explained how structural changes occur in chromosomes. The ring chromosomes and telomeres she described were later found in humans. The former shed light on the nature of genetic diseases, the latter explain the principle of cell division and biological aging of the body. In 1931, Barbara McClintock and her graduate student Harriet Creighton studied the mechanism of gene recombination during reproduction, when parent cells exchange parts of chromosomes, giving rise to new genetic traits in offspring. Barbara discovered transposons - elements that turn off the genes around them. She made many discoveries in cytogenetics - more than 70 years ago, without the support and understanding of her colleagues. According to cytologists, of the 17 major discoveries in maize cytogenetics in the 1930s, ten were made by Barbara McClintock.

Grace Murray Hopper (1906 - 1992)

“Go and do it; you will always have time to justify yourself later"

During World War II, 37-year-old Grace Hopper, an assistant professor and mathematician, enlisted in the Navy USA. She spent a year at midshipman school and wanted to go to the front, but Grace was sent to the first programmable computer in the United States, Mark I, to convert ballistic tables into binary codes. As Grace Hopper later recalled: “I didn’t understand computers - after all, this was the first.” Then there were Mark II, Mark III and UNIVAC I. With her light hand, the words bug - error and debugging - came into use. The first “bug” was a real insect - a moth flew into the computer and closed the relay. Grace pulled it out and pasted it into her work journal. A logical paradox for programmers: “How was the first compiler compiled?” - This is also Grace. The first compiler in history (1952), the first library of subroutines compiled by hand "because I'm too lazy to remember if it's been done before," and COBOL, the first programming language (1962) that resembles a regular language, were all thanks to Grace Hopper.

This little woman believed that programming should be accessible to everyone: “There are a lot of people who need to solve different problems... they need different types of languages, not us trying to turn them all into mathematicians.” In 1969, Hopper received the Person of the Year award. In 1971, the Grace Hopper Prize for Young Programmers was established. (The first nominee was 33-year-old Donald Knuth, author of the multi-volume monograph “The Art of Programming.”) At age 77, Grace Hopper received the rank of commodore, and two years later, by decree of the US President, she was awarded the rank of rear admiral. Admiral Gray Hopper retired at 80, spent five years giving lectures and reports - nimble, incredibly witty, with a bunch of “nanoseconds” in her purse. In 1992, she died in her sleep on New Year's Eve. The US Navy destroyer USS Hopper is named in her honor, and each year the Association for Computing Machinery awards the best young programmer with the Grace Hopper Award.