Nobel Laureate Barbara McClintock Was Dismissed as “Absolutely Mad”

Trailblazing genetics researcher Barbara McClintock spent much of her life fighting against people who doubted her. As a girl growing up in Connecticut and New York, she was described as an independent but shy child with a love of science. She wanted to attend college to study agriculture, but her parents were resistant. They believed that if their daughter gained too much education and independence, she would never settle down and marry. They weren’t wrong. McClintock never married. Instead, she revolutionized the field of genetics and became the first woman in history to win an unshared Nobel Prize.

McClintock studied genetics at Cornell University, where she helped pioneer the budding field of cytogenetics (the study of chromosome structure and behavior). She made several impactful breakthroughs at Cornell, but her most important discovery happened after she joined Cold Spring Harbor Lab. There she set about understanding what role genes play in the coloring of maize plants. Through this research, she discovered that genes could “jump” from one position to another with chromosomes. Her discovery wasn’t just cutting-edge; it defied all previous knowledge and conventions. Describing how other scientists responded to her research, McClintock said, “They said I was crazy, absolutely mad. But when you know you are right you don’t care.” McClintock’s discovery is now considered one of the most important in genetics history.

Biochemist Ruby Hirose’s Family Was Sent to Internment Camps

In the late 1930s, Ruby Hirose was immersed in groundbreaking research in antitoxins that would help pave the way for the polio vaccine a decade later. Her work at the University of Cincinnati gained considerable recognition in her field. It also spared Hirose the fate of thousands of other Japanese Americans who were forced into concentration camps during World War II. Unfortunately, her family was not so fortunate. Although there were internment camps across the country, most were on the west coast. In 1942, Hirose’s father and siblings living near Seattle, Washington, were sent to an internment camp. The fact that she had already left her hometown by the start of World War II is likely the only reason Hirose was not also sent to the camps and was able to continue her research.

Hirose’s research spanned many fields. She was one of only 10 women honored at the 1940 American Chemical Society meeting. Hirose studied allergies and worked on a method of using pollen to reduce sensitivity to the allergen. She suffered from a pollen allergy, which prompted her exploration of desensitizing the immune system by exposing it to allergens. This idea is the basis of modern allergy vaccines. Hirose also studied the protein involved in blood clotting and published a study on a medicinal plant used by the Cherokee and other Native American tribes to treat skin and digestive issues.

Marie Maynard Daly Defied the Odds to Discover How Food Affects Our Bodies

A popular book about the researchers who studied disease-causing bacteria sparked a life-long passion for science and medicine that led Marie Maynard Daly to her own transformative discoveries. She was encouraged in her interest by her father, whose dream of studying chemistry had been thwarted by financial constraints. As a black woman in the 1940s, Daly overcame dual discrimination to make an impact on her field. She graduated from college with honors before beginning her graduate education in chemistry. In 1947, Daly became the first black woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Daly made many important discoveries throughout her long career. Her graduate research explored how our digestive system breaks down starch into sugar. In collaboration with microbiologist Alfred Mirsky, she helped explain how proteins are produced in the cell. Daly discovered that cholesterol can clog arteries, leading to high blood pressure and heart disease. She also studied the harmful effects of cigarettes on the cardiovascular system. Daly was an outspoken supporter of women and minorities in science. She founded a scholarship in her father’s memory to help prevent other Black students from missing out on their dreams.

Born into Poverty, Sau Lan Wu Has Three Career-Defining Discoveries

Most scientists dream of just one career-making discovery. In her over 50 year career, Sau Lan Wu has three—and she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Born in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong during World War II, Wu grew up in extreme poverty. Her mother encouraged her to find her independence through education. Wu received a full scholarship to Vassar College, where she decided to study physics like her hero Marie Curie. After completing her graduate education at Harvard, Wu launched her history-making career.

Wu’s most well-known work is her critical role in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle so foundational in physics that it was nicknamed “the God particle.” The particle was the last piece needed to complete the standard model of particle physics, which describes the building blocks of the universe. The search for the Higgs boson led to some of the most research advances in modern physics. Wu also helped confirm the existence of two fundamental physics particles. In 1974, she was part of the team that discovered the J/psi particle, which earned her advisor the Nobel Prize in Physics. Wu was also instrumental in discovering gluon, which is necessary to form protons and electrons. Now in her 80s, Wu continues her research at the University of Wisconsin and CERN.

Maria Merian Changed How the World Saw Insects

Before Maria Sibylla Merian began studying insects, many 17th-century scientists considered them “gross” and unworthy of study. But Merian knew better. A skilled artist and dedicated naturalist, she illustrated and described previously unknown traits of dozens of insect species. The stepdaughter of a still life artist, Merian began collecting and drawing insects, spiders, and plants at 13. Between 1675 and 1678, she published her three volumes of scientific illustrations. Then, in 1699, Merian went on a research expedition in Suriname to collect insect and plant specimens.

A few years after returning from the expedition, Merian published her greatest work, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, establishing her as an authority in the field. Her book is considered one of the most important in the history of entomology, the study of insects. Merian’s remarkable drawings and detailed descriptions were the first virtual record of insect metamorphosis. This altered our understanding of insects and advanced the field of entomology. The 1980s renewed interest in Merian’s works, which remain among the greatest scientific illustrations ever.

Suffragette Mary Agnes Chase Risked Her Career to Stand Up For Her Beliefs

It would have been easy for Mary Agnes Chase, who fought hard for her position as one of the most distinguished botanists in history, to stay silent on political issues. Her critics certainly would have preferred that. But Chase was never afraid to stand up for what she believed in. She had a difficult start in life. Her father, an Irish railroad worker, died when she was a toddler, forcing the family to move to Chicago. She received little formal education, leaving school after elementary school. Her husband died just a year after they married. Still, she carried on in her career as an illustrator for the University of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Chase began studying the grasses outside Chicago and taking botany classes in her free time. She eventually began working with a fellow illustrator and botanist, Albert Spear Hitchcock, who attempted to give Chase money from his research grant to conduct her own study. The request was refused because Chase was a woman. Unfortunately, her work was not the only area where Chase felt this sting of sexist discrimination. In the 1910s, she became deeply involved the women’s suffrage movement, participating in protests and getting arrested several times. Although she faced threats of losing her job due to her political advocacy, she never wavered in her commitment. Chase mentored many female botanists throughout her life, published several highly-regarded works, and went on multiple international research expeditions, including a survey of Venezuela at 71.

Rachel Carson Defied Sexism and Launched an Environmentalist Revolution

When Rachel Carson wrote her revelatory book Silent Spring, she couldn’t have known how influential it would be. Her writing laid out the harmful effects of chemical pesticides. Then, she went a step further, taking the government and pesticide manufacturers to task for spraying poorly-regulated chemicals into the environment. Carson’s book almost single-handedly launched a global environmental movement against harmful industrial chemicals. Most impressively, Silent Spring and the movement it started were directly responsible for the U.S. banning use of the popular agricultural insecticide DDT, which causes seizures, tremors, and vomiting in humans.

Although Silent Spring was massively popular, it also drew accusations of radicalism and a lack of patriotism for daring to condemn the government. Her harshest condemnation came from the powerful chemical companies she criticized in her book. One critic dismissed her as hysterical and mocked her for being “scared to death of a few little bugs.” But Carson was no stranger to taking on a challenge. Born on a farm in 1907, she was a published writer by the age of 10. Her dream of being a zoologist was interrupted by the Great Depression. A few years later, Carson became the second woman to work for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. Throughout her career, she won many prestigious awards for her science writing and received a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Lise Meitner Was Denied a Nobel Prize But Made It Onto the Periodic Table

Born to a Jewish family in Austria in 1878, Lise Meitner faced tremendous obstacles to her success in science. Her father, one the first Jewish lawyers to practice law in Austria, was a trailblazer in his own right. He hired tutors to support his daughter’s budding curiosity. However, when Meitner wished to study science at university, her father encouraged her to become a teacher instead. She passed her teaching certification but decided to enroll at the University of Vienna to study physics. Meitner was a brilliant student, completing her Ph.D. in Physics with the highest honors. After graduating, she struggled to find a research position. In 1907, she moved Berlin, where she spent the next 30 years of her career.

Meitner was not allowed to work in a lab in an official capacity in Berlin. Instead, she worked for several years without pay with chemist Otto Hahn. After their joint discovery of the radioactive element protactinium, Meitner got her own lab. She eventually became the first female physics professor at the University of Berlin. During this time, she began studying nuclear fission, a term that she coined. She was forced to flee Germany in 1938 due to Hitler’s rise to power. After arriving safely in Sweden, Meitner immediately continued her research. She was instrumental in uncovering the process of nuclear fission. But only her longtime collaborator Hahn received the Nobel Prize after downplaying her role in their research. Nonetheless, Meitner went on to become one of the most highly regarded scientists in her field and a tireless champion for women in science. In 1992, the 109th element on the periodic table, ​​Meitnerium, was named in her honor.

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