31 Days of Notable Women- Rosalind Franklin & the Discovery of DNA

Rosalind Elsie Franklin (Born: London, England, July 25, 1920- Died: London, England, April 16, 1958) – Pioneer Molecular Biologist

There is probably no other woman scientist with as much controversy surrounding her life and work as Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was responsible for much of the research and discovery work that led to the understanding of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA. The story of DNA is a tale of competition and intrigue, told one way in James Watson’s book The Double Helix, and quite another in Anne Sayre’s study, Rosalind Franklin and DNA. James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received a Nobel Prize for the double-helix model of DNA in 1962, four years after Franklin’s death at age 37 from ovarian cancer.
Source: http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/franklin.html

31 Days of Notable Women- Marie Curie, famous firsts

Marie Curie, née Maria Sklodowska, was born in Warsaw on November 7, 1867, the daughter of a secondary-school teacher. She received a general education in local schools and some scientific training from her father. She became involved in a students’ revolutionary organization and found it prudent to leave Warsaw, then in the part of Poland dominated by Russia, for Cracow, which at that time was under Austrian rule. In 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences.

She met Pierre Curie, Professor in the School of Physics in 1894 and in the following year they were married. She succeeded her husband as Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne, gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903, and following the tragic death of Pierre Curie in 1906, she took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences, the first time a woman had held this position. She was also appointed Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914.

Source Cited: From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1967

MLA style: “Marie Curie – Biography”. Nobelprize.org. 12 Aug 2010 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/marie-curie-bio.html

“31 Days of Notable Women” my special blog is coming for Women’s History Month!

Every March I post one blog per day on notable women and their amazing accomplishments. Come join me to learn about women in science, women inventors, politicians and poets, freedom fighters and artists.

Many of these women have been buried in history, their stories ignored or never told…..meet amazing people whose voices have been silenced, but who are finally being given the credit they deserve!

Subscribe to the blog so you won’t miss a single entry,
Diane Tegarden

Looking for modern day women inventors….

As many of you may know, during Women’s History month in March I blog every day about amazing but unheralded women who are inventors, artists, writers, political leaders, scientists, pilots, world leaders, doctors, astronomers and authors. These are women who have made history but not gotten the acclaim they deserve. I call the blog “31 Days of Notable Women”.

Here’s your chance to be glorified! If you are (or know of) a woman whose time has come, please email me at rosefirewalker@aol.com so I can give you the attention you so justly deserve. I’ll need time to research and write your short bio, so let’s get the ball rolling.

Looking forward to getting to know some of you amazing women,
Diane Tegarden

Professor Yonath won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry-31 Days of Notable Women

Professor Ada Yonath is The Martin S. and Helen Kimmel Professor of Structural Biology and Director of The Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly. She, along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A Steitz, were recognized for “studies of the structure and function of the ribosome,” work that will impact the development of antibiotics. In 2009 Prof. Yonath won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for deciphering the structure and mechanism of action of ribosomes – the cell’s protein factories. Her findings are crucial for developing advanced antibiotics.

Source Cited: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Prof_Yonath_2009_Nobel_Prize_Chemistry_7-Oct-2009.htm

Dr Rana el Kaliouby invents people friendly computer tech

Dr. Rana el Kaliouby got her B.S. and M.S. from the American University in Cairo, and her Ph.D. from Cambridge University, all in the subject of Computer Science. In 2006, she received the Higher Education and Learning Institute’s Gold Award from the Global Women and Inventors Network. Rana el Kaliouby is a Research Scientist at MIT Media Lab, inventing technologies that sense and have a commonsense understanding of people’s affective and cognitive experiences.

Source: http://web.media.mit.edu/~kaliouby/

31 Days of Notable Women- Shirley Ann Jackson- champion of physics

The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson is the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., the oldest technological research university in the United States. Last year the National Science Board selected Dr. Jackson as its 2007 recipient of the prestigious Vannevar Bush Award for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”

Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T. (1973) and a S.B. in physics from M.I.T. (1968). Her research specialty is in theoretical condensed matter physics, especially layered systems, and the physics of opto-electronic materials.

Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., Hartford, Conn., M.I.T., physics, Vannevar Bush Award, National Science Board, women in physics,