{"id":3098,"date":"2025-04-24T12:23:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T06:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinkpreneurs.in\/index.php\/2025\/04\/24\/herstory-in-the-shadows-reclaiming-the-unwritten-genius-of-women-who-engineered-the-world\/"},"modified":"2025-04-24T12:23:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T06:53:31","slug":"herstory-in-the-shadows-reclaiming-the-unwritten-genius-of-women-who-engineered-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinkpreneurs.in\/index.php\/2025\/04\/24\/herstory-in-the-shadows-reclaiming-the-unwritten-genius-of-women-who-engineered-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Herstory in the Shadows: Reclaiming the Unwritten Genius of Women Who Engineered the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mumbai: <\/b>Let\u2019s be honest, <\/span>men built this world. <\/span><\/i>Well, this could be right coming from a patriarchal point of view. But then we\u2019d be playing dumb today. Because that\u2019s a statement that can be implied on <\/span>just a few<\/span><\/i> men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, a few will definitely negotiate saying that, \u2018what are you talking about, haven\u2019t you read history or somethin\u2019?\u2019 However, if people had read history correctly, they\u2019d have known that history was <\/span>written by men. <\/span><\/i>Women\u2019s contributions were deliberately erased.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are not overlooking the fact that men did some of the most important inventions, but not all men. However, we\u2019re just conveying that to keep that train going, women were the ones to keep making the track.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inventions like cars, computers, phones, and rockets were invented by men somewhere down the road. Nevertheless, those inventions come with hideous facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dumbfounding? Let\u2019s break it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marie Curie \u2013<\/b><\/h4>\n

Marie Curie, AKA <\/span>n\u00e9e<\/span><\/i> Maria Sklodowska, obtained her Licenciateships in Physics and Mathematical Science. Later on, she met a professor at the School of Physics in 1894 named Pierre Curie<\/span>.<\/span> In 1903, she gained her Doctor of Science degree. On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to the professorship that had been left vacant on her husband\u2019s death; she was the first woman to teach in the Sorbonne. She was also appointed Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914.<\/span><\/p>\n

She retained her enthusiasm for science throughout her life and did much to establish a radioactivity laboratory in her native city. She was a member of the Conseil du Physique Solvay from 1911 until her death, and since 1922, she had been a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations. Her work has been recorded in numerous papers and scientific journals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She was awarded a second Nobel Prize, in Chemistry, in 1911, for her research on radioactivity. She was also jointly awarded the Davy Medal of the Royal Society in 1903 with her husband. In 1921, United States President Harding, at the request of the women of America, awarded her a gram of radium in gratitude for her contributions to the service of science. She alone was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize and is the sole female winner of two distinct awards. Marie Curie\u2019s remains were buried in Paris\u2019s Panth\u00e9on in 1995; she was the first woman to be so honored for her contributions. Her laboratory and office in the Curie Pavilion of the Radium Institute have been left intact as the Curie Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosalind Franklin \u2013\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Rosalind Franklin decoded DNA only to have her work stolen by men. She made a crucial yet often overlooked contribution to the discovery of the DNA double Helix Structure. Her other discoveries, which are overlooked, are X-ray Diffraction, Photo 51. Franklin was an experienced X-ray crystallographer who utilised this method of research to explore the structure of DNA. At King\u2019s College London, Franklin produced \u201cPhoto 51,\u201d a clean X-ray diffraction image of DNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her construction of the iconic Photo 51 proved deoxyribonucleic acid\u2019s double-helix structure: the molecule carrying the genetic code for the growth of all living things. Franklin\u2019s research went far beyond DNA, involving studies on viruses, coal, and graphite, proving the wide-ranging scientific interests and abilities of Franklin. However, some still undermined her because even though she discovered DNA, only to have her work stolen<\/span> by men.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Even if we make Rosalind Franklin\u2019s stolen DNA work an exception and not a rule, there are plenty more examples yet to come by\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Bertha Bez \u2013\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

We mentioned cars in the things discovered by men, didn\u2019t we? So, yes, the world\u2019s first car was invented by a man named Karl Benz. However, if it hadn\u2019t been for Bertha\u2019s audacious Sunday spin, that car would\u2019ve gathered dust in the garage faster than you could say \u201cinternal combustion.\u201d Let\u2019s face it \u2014 had she not taken the wheel (quite literally), dear Karl\u2019s invention might\u2019ve just been a glorified lawn ornament. After all, behind every great man is a woman\u2026dragging his invention out of obscurity and onto the road. In 1888, she took her husband\u2019s Benz Patent-Motorwagen from Mannheim to Pforzheim, a distance of 65 miles (105 km), and demonstrated the usability of the vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bertha Benz also played an important part in the evolution of the automobile for other reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n