8 Great Women in Science

I am a lover of celebrating women and their accomplishments in fields that are "made" for males. Fields such as science, math, leadership, and more. In 2019, women empowerment is becoming more and more prevalent to everyday life. But this isn't the first year women have been fighting for their rights. Below I have a list of names of 8 women who defied odds in science making inventions and discoveries to better our lives today. 

Patricia- Noblemen; English 

Patricia Era Bath was an ophthalmologist. She was the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology as well as the first African American woman to receive a medical patent in 1998. Cataracts are being resolved because of her invention of the Laserphaco Probe. Eye health has vastly improved because of her and her determination to go against racism and sexism.

Edith- Wealth, Fortune, War; English 

Edith Clarke was the first female electrical engineer as well as the first female professor of electrical engineer. She helped design the hydroelectric dams. She also invented a graphical calculator to help solve equations involving hyperbolic functions. All of her accomplishments are achieved despite being denied jobs as an electrical engineer but large companies. 

Hertha- Strong, Vigorous; German 

Like Edith Clarke, Phoebe Sarah "Hertha" Ayrton had a hand in the electrical world. She created a better electric arc. It was clean and quiet compared to the lights at the time. Hertha also studied wind motions and water cortices. During World War I she invented the Ayrton fan to blow away mustard gas. With her help she paved the way for females in science. 

Nettie- Diminutive of Names Ending in Nette; English 

The discovery of sex chromosomes can be credited to Nettie Maria Stevens. She discovered that our sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes with the help of insects. All her research was published in a 2-part book that help overturn hundreds of years of misconceptions. 

Gerty- Diminutive of Gertrude (Spear of Strength); English

Without Gerty Theresa Cori people with diabetes would not have the life they have. With her help we are able to understand how diabetes works. Gerty and her husband Cori worked side by side in all of this. Together they created the first synthetic glycogen. She was the first women to win a Nobel prize. She worked in the science world until her death. 

Mamie- Diminutive of Mary (Sea of Bitterness); English 

Mamie Phipps Clark had a huge hand in understand the effects of segregation on children. Her picture test proved that race is an integral part of a child's identity. She was the second African American to receive a Ph.D from Columbia university. with her husband being the first. Her study wasted in the Brown v. Board of Education case. 

Katia- Diminutive of Caterina (Each of the Two); Italian

Catherine Josephine "Katia" Krafft fell in love with volcanos when she was little after seeing a picture of them. She went on the study them fort he rest of her life. Her love for volcanos allowed her to start a foundation for volcanology with her husband. Her study of volcanos helped governments form volcano evacuation procedures. Sadly she died doing what she loved. 

Francoise- Frenchman; French

HIV was identified thanks to the work of Francoise Barre-Sinoussi. For her work she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She became the head of the Retrovirus Biology Unit at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. She has since retired from research but her accomplishments are not forgotten. 

The Names of Nurses {National Nurses Day}

National Nurses Day is tomorrow and this whole week is a week to celebrate nurses. I am a part of this club and I am so proud to say I am. A few days ago I finished my last semester of nursing school and at the end of the month I will graduate. It hard to believe. In honor of this week I am talking about 5 inspirational nurses in history.

Florence- Prosperous, Flourishing; English, Latin
Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing and is probably one of the most known nurses of all times. During the Crimean War, she became known as " The Lady with he Lamp" because she made rounds to wounded soldiers at night. One of the contributions of Florence Nightingale to nursing was to sanitation and preventing the spread of disease.

Because of my future career in nursing I have always wanted to use Florence as a first or middle name. I could go on and on about the name but I will keep it short for you. It is a place name for the romantic Italy (and the place Florence Nightingale was born). It has a nice vintage feel to it but it is coming back into style. There is a nice list of possible nicknames including, Flora, Flo, Flossie, Florrie, and Ren/Wren.

Clara- Clear, Bright, Famous; Latin
Clara Barton was the founder of the American Red Cross. During the American Civil War she worked as a hospital nurse. It was most noted that she was doing work during a time when women rarely worked outside of the home.

The name Clara is calm, vintage name that has a sweet sound to it. I adore the name as an alternative or an honor name for a Claire. In 2015 in the United States the name was ranked int he top 100 at #98. A fun fact about Clara Barton's name is she was actually born Clarissa.

Dorothea- Gift of God; Greek
Dorothea Dix was a support and activist for mental health in the 1840s. Because of her fight for the mentally ill the first generation of American mental asylums were built. During the Civil War she served as a Superintendent of Army Nurses. There is a long list of honors giving to Dorothea including, the Bangor Mental Health Institute being renamed Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center.

Dorothea is such an underused, under appreciated vintage name. I think makes a great spin on Dorothy. If you have been around for a while them you know I love nicknames so its no surprise my favorite part of the name is the nicknames. You can use Dottie, Dora, Dory, Thea, Dot, and Dodie.

Mary (Sea of Bitterness; English) Eliza (Diminutive of Elizabeth (My God is an Oath; Greek))

Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first black professional nurse in America. In 1879 she graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children Training School for Nurses and was one of only 3 people in her class to complete the 16 month program. In 1979 she was inducted into he American Nurses Association Hall of Fame. To help the African American nurses during her time she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

Mary is such a classical name. It has ties to so many different people and events. Along with the name Elizabeth I would say Mary is one of the most known biblical names. I meant here are 6 Mary's in the bible! Double barrel names that start with Mary, such as Mary Kate or Mary Frances, are some of my favorite names out there. I really like Mary Eliza together because of the uniqueness of Eliza. Eliza is a nice alternative or honor name for Elizabeth.

Ruby- Red; Latin 

Ruby Bradley was one of the most decorated women in United States military history. She had 34 decorations, medals, and other awards. When she was captured by the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor she was held as prisoner. Along with several other nurses, Ruby was known as the "Angels in Fatigues" because she gave medical help to prisoners and helped feed starving children. In her time as prisoner she assisted in 230 operations and helped delivery over 13 children. One of the sad parts about her story is she is not talked about enough! I had no idea who she was until I did the research.

Ruby as a name is a color name as well as a gem stone name. A lot of English speaking countries have the name in their top name lists like England and Ireland. If you are looking for a name that travels well than Ruby is the name for you.

Women of Space

You know what I love celebrating? Strong, inspiring women, especially those that go against the stereotypes and do what no women has done before. Today I want to celebrate the women of space. Those women who were and still are a part of a male dominated field. Because this post would be so long if I included all of the women of space I decided to just include the women who have been the first of something (first women in space, first woman space shuttle commender, etc.). I hope to do another post like this in the future.

Valentina
Valentina Tereshkova was the first women in space. She flew Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963 with the Russians. Her orbit around earth was 48 times! Valentina means strong, vigorous, healthy in Latin. The name is ranked at #114 in the United States. In France the name is ranked at #76.

Sally
Sally Ride was the first U.S. woman in space. She flew up on June 18, 1983 and stayed until June 24. During the trip her job was to control the robotic arm and used that arm to put satellites into space. Sally is the English diminutive of Sarah which means princess. I hold a special place in my heart for this name because it was my grandmother's name.

Eileen
Eileen Collins was the first woman space shuttle commander. She commended STS-93 from July 23 to July 27, 1999. In 2005 she had her second space shuttle commend. Not only was she the first woman space shuttle commander but she was also the first woman space shuttle pilot in 1995. I'd say that she was pretty important to women's take in space! The name Eileen means desired in Irish and is the anglicized form of Eibhlin.

Peggy
Peggy Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station (ISS). In April 2008, Peggy completed a 6 month tour on the ISS. In 2016 she became the oldest female astronaut. The name Peggy a diminutive of Margaret, which means pearl. In medieval times it became a variant of Meggy but the reason for the change is unknown.

Svetlana
Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman to participate in an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA). She completed this task on July 25, 1984 on the Soyuz T-12. She was also the second women in space. Svetlana is a Russian name meaning light, world. A Russian poet named Vasily Zhukovsky made the name popular in 1813 with his poem bearing the same name.

Kathryn
Kathryn Sullivan was the first U.S. woman to participate in an Extra-Vehicular Activity on October 11, 1984 meaning she was the first American woman to walk in space. She was a crew member on 3 Space Shuttle missions. Kathryn means each of two in English. It is an alternative spelling of Katherine.

Susan
Susan Helms was the first woman space station expedition crew member on Expedition 2 from March 2001 to August 2001. To my surprise she had spent a total of 5,064 hours in space! She even has a world record for the longest EVA of 8 hours and 56 minutes. I guess you could say she loved space. Susan is an English variant of Susanna meaning lily. This spelling of the name has been the most common spelling since the 18th century because of Susan B. Anthony.

I had so much fun learning about the different women of space! I am sure there are some women on this list you have heard of before but I know that some of these amazing, inspiring I had never heard of before. Let me know what you thought of this post. Would you like more inspiring women in the future?