Marie Curie

Was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. Her achievements included the development of the theory of radioactivity, techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium.

The first programmers

Adele Goldstine was an American mathematician and computer programmer who wrote the manual for the first electronic digital computer, ENIAC. Through her work programming it, she was also an instrumental player in converting the ENIAC from a computer that needed to be reprogrammed each time it was used to one that was able to perform a set of fifty stored instructions. As an instructor of mathematics for the women at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, Goldstine also trained some of the six women who were the original programmers of ENIAC.

Ada Lovelace

Was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.

Fossil hunter

Mary Anning's brother spotted what he thought was a crocodile skeleton in 1811. After showing Mary the skeleton she researched it and discovered that it was an extinct species. Thus began Anning's long career as a fossil hunter. In addition to ichthyosaurs, she found long-necked plesiosaurs, a pterodactyl and hundreds, possibly thousands, of other fossils that helped scientist to draw a picture of the marine world 200 million to 140 million years ago during the Jurassic.

"Did you learn that from a book or did you observe it yourself?"

Maria Mitchell learned to observe the stars from her father and when she was 12, she helped him record the time of an eclipse. At 17, she had already begun her own school for girls, teaching them science and math. In 1847 she spotted a blurry streak - a comet - through her telescope. She was honored around the world, earning a medal from the king of Denmark and became the first woman to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Molecular structures

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who made contributions to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite. She studied the Natural Sciences Tripos at Newnham College, Cambridge, from which she graduated in 1941. Earning a research fellowship, she joined the University of Cambridge physical chemistry laboratory under Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, who disappointed her for his lack of enthusiasm. Her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely recognised posthumously.

Noether

Emmy Nother, born 1882, was a German mathematician known for her landmark contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. She was described by Albert Einstein and many others as the most important woman in the history of mathematics. As one of the leading mathematicians of her time, she developed the theories of rings, fields, and algebras. In physics, Noether's theorem explains the connection between symmetry and conservation laws. She originally planned to teach French and English after passing the required examinations, but instead studied mathematics at the University of Erlangen, where her father lectured. After completing her dissertation in 1907 under the supervision of Paul Gordan, she worked at the Mathematical Institute of Erlangen without pay for seven years. At the time, women were largely excluded from academic positions. In 1915, she was invited by David Hilbert and Felix Klein to join the mathematics department at the University of Gottingen, a world-renowned center of mathematical research.

"In my youth, I spent my time investigating insects."

Maria Sibylla Merian, born 1964, was a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator. Merian published her first book of natural illustrations, titled Neues Blumenbuch, in 1675 at age 28. Maria travelled to South America to study insects and her trip, designed as a scientific expedition makes Merian perhaps the first person to "plan a journey rooted solely in science." in 1705, for which she became famous. Because of her careful observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly, she is considered by David Attenborough to be among the most significant contributors to the field of entomology. She was a leading entomologist of her time and she discovered many new facts about insect life through her studies.

Balboa Park

Kate Session, born 1857, spent most of her childhood living in and around the towering trees of northern California. In 1881, she was the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a science degree, and shortly afterward she moved to San Diego - at the time, a dry city with almost no plant life. Sessions arranged to lease 30 acres of land in City Park (now called Balboa Park) from the city, in exchange for planting 100 trees a year in the barren park, and 300 trees a year in the rest of San Diego. Today, her gardens and parks are still found throughout the city, and Sessions is known as "the Mother of Balboa Park."