Christian Women Pioneering in Science

We have featured various women scientists in our previous blog posts. In this article, we aim to unite over 50 remarkable women who have significantly influenced science and/or science education during their time. The selection process adhered to two specific criteria: (1) their notable impact on science or science education, and (2) the profound influence of their Christian faith on their lives. We sought compelling evidence that their Christian beliefs, irrespective of their faith tradition (Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox), played a pivotal role in shaping their personal experiences. Mere familial connections, such as being a pastor’s daughter or coming from a Catholic country, were not sufficient for inclusion in this presentation.

1. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
2. Herrad of Landsberg (1130–1195)
3. Sophie Brahe  (1559 – 1643)
4. Maria Cunitz (1610 – 22 August 1664)
5. Justine Siegemund (December 1636 – 10 November 1705)
6. Maria Sibylla Merian (2 April 1647 – 13 January 1717)
7. Laura Bassi (October 1711 – 20 February 1778)
8. Maria Gaetana Agnesi (16 May 1718 – 09 January 1799)
9. Caroline Lucretia Herschel (16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848)
10. Marie-Anne Lavoisier (20 January 1758 – 10 February 1836)
11. Maria Dalle Donne (12 July 1778 – 9 June 1842)
12. Mary Somerville (26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872)
13. Charlotte Murchison (18 April 1788 – 9 February 1868)
14. Orra White Hitchcock (8 March 1796 – 26 May 1863)
15. Mary Buckland (20 November 1797 – 30 November 1857)
16. Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847)
17. Maria Mitchell (1 August 1818 – 28 June 1889)
18. Florence Nightingale (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910)
19. Katherine Mary Clerk Maxwell (1824 – 12 December 1886)
20. Antoinette Brown Blackwell (20 May 1825 – 5 November 1921)
21. Agnes McLaren (4 July 1837 – 17 April 1913)
22. Agnes Mary Clerke (10 February 1842 – 20 January 1907)
23. Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (3 December 1842 – 30 March 1911)
24. Therese von Bayern (12 November 1850 – 19 September 1926)
25. Marcella O’Grady Boveri (7 October 1863 – 24 October 1950)
26. Emily Fortey (1866 – 10 September 1946)
27. Annie Scott Dill Maunder (14 April 1868 – 15 September 1947)
28. Eva von Bahr-Bergius (16 September 1874 – 28 February 1962)
29. Elisabeth Schiemann (15. August 1881 – 3 January 1972)
30. Euphemia Lofton Haynes (11 September 1890 – 25 June 1980) 
31. Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod (5 May 1892 – 18 December 1968)
32. Sr. Hilary Ross (1894 – 30 November 1982)
33. Cecilia Helene Payne-Gaposchkin (10 May 1900– 07 December 1979)
34. Natasha Dobzhansky (29 August 1901 – 22 February 1994)
35. Elena Kasimirchak Polonskaya (21 November 1902 – 30 August 1992)
36. Kathleen Lonsdale (28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971)
37. Sr Mary Celine Fasenmyer (4 October 1906 – 27 December 1996)
38. Virginia Apgar (7 June 1909 – 7 August 1974)
39. Marguerite Perey (19 October 1909 – 13 March 1975)
40. Dorothy Vaughan (20 September 1910 – 10 November 2008)
41. Máirín de Valera (12 April 1912 – 8 August 1984)
42. Piedad de la Cierva (1 June 1913 – 31 December 2007)
43. Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller (17 December 1913 – 10 January 1985)
44. Guadalupe Ortiz de Landazuri (12 September 1915 – 16 July 1975)
45. Sr. Miriam Michael Stimson (24 December 1913 – 17 June 2002)
46. Anne-Marie Staub (13 November 1914 – 30 December 2012)
47. Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (26 August 1918 – 24 February 2020)
48. Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya (7 March 1922 – 12 January 2004)
49. Stephanie L. Kwolek (31 July 1923 to 18 June 2014)
50. Mary Brück (29 May 1925 – 11 December 2008)
51. Mildred Fay Jefferson (6 April 1927 – 15 October 2010)

Also these 10 women scientists didn’t see a conflict between science and faith

Today is Women’s day – time to remember the contribution of Christian female scientists and time to post the 2nd installment (first one here), bringing the number of women scientists portrayed on our blog to 30. We cover women from 4 centuries, contributing to mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, geology and scientific illustration.

Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684) was the first woman to receive a ‘Doctor of Philosophy’, a ‘Ph.D.’ degree in 1678. Although she was learned in mathematics and other science fields, her real focus was in theology and philosophy. The Roman Catholic Church, though, did not think at that time it was proper for a woman to earn a degree in theology. The University of Padua allowed Piscopia to graduate with her Ph.D. in Philosophy instead.  Ceremonies of the sort were usually held in one of the University’s buildings, but there were so many people who wanted to come watch the proceedings that they could not all fit into University Hall, and thus they chose a larger place to hold the ceremony. It was especially remarkable when we consider that the University of Padua did not award another Ph.D. to a woman for over 300 years. Elena was a member of various academies and was esteemed highly throughout Europe. In 1665, she took the habit of a Benedictine Oblate and devoted the last seven years of her life to charity and working with the poor. She died at the age of 38 of tuberculosis.

Marie-Anne Lavoisier (1758-1836) was a French chemist and noble. Madame Lavoisier was the wife of the chemist and nobleman Antoine Lavoisier and acted as his laboratory companion and contributed to his work. Her husband, Antoine Lavoisier, was sentenced to death in the aftermath of the French Revolution, after having found again his faith in God. She herself was a faithful Catholic and was theologically well versed. She was instrumental in the 1789 publication of her husband’s Elementary Treatise on Chemistry, which presented a unified view of chemistry as a field. She contributed thirteen drawings that showed all the laboratory instrumentation and equipment used by the Lavoisiers in their experiments. She also kept strict records of the procedures followed, lending validity to the findings Lavoisier published.