Rosalind Franklin is one of the invisible women scientists that litter history. Her work was integral to the discovery of the structure of DNA but only the two male scientists James Watson and Francis Crick are remembered for the achievement. A play in Paris looks at Franklin’s career. The Rosalind Franklin Affair is the last … Continue reading “The Rosalind Franklin Affair on Stage”
The ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August. The tournament is being billed as the biggest ever women’s sporting event . More than a million match tickets have been sold and the tournament will involve the biggest number of teams, and therefore matches, … Continue reading “Women on the Pitch”
Rosalind Franklin should be a household name as one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA along with James Watson and Francis Crick. But like so many women scientists, her work was minimised and she died before Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery. Rosalind Franklin was born in London … Continue reading “Rosalind Franklin: Scientific Pioneer”
Our bioboxes are short “Who Am I?” quizzes to help introduce pupils to famous figures in the English-speaking world. This one is on Josephine Baker as she enters the French Panthéon. For more information on Baker, see our article. You can download the biobox below to use it offline with your pupils.
On 30 November, Josephine Baker will become the sixth woman, and the first black woman, to enter France’s Panthéon, where the country honours its greatest heroes. The Franco-American dancer and singer was an active member of the Resistance in WWII and civil-rights activist in the U.S. Freda Josephine McDonald was born into poverty in St … Continue reading “Josephine Baker Enters the Panthéon”
The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on 18 September means the political balance of the court is likely to swing right. Justice Ginsburg was a pioneering lawyer and judge who was at the forefront of battles for gender equality and women’s rights. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of three women out of … Continue reading “Goodbye RBG”
Florence Nightingale is one of Britain’s most recognisable names. The Victorian nursing pioneer and statistician left an indelible mark on the world of medicine. The first woman ever to be featured on a British banknote, her influence is such that 200 years after her birth, the emergency hospitals created for the coronavirus pandemic in the … Continue reading “Florence Nightingale: Nursing Pioneer”
2020 is Florence Nightingale’s bicentenary. After she and a team of nurses managed to significantly reduce the death count by improving the appallingly unsanitary conditions at a British hospital during the Crimean War, she became an authority on public sanitation issues. She also earned a reputation for her statistician’s skills, and her charts would influence … Continue reading “Florence Nightingale”
The mathematician Katherine Johnson has died at the age of 101. Her calculations were vital many NASA space missions. She was one of the “Hidden Figures” brought into the spotlight by the 2016 book and film. Hidden Figures told the true story of a team of female mathematicians who worked in NASA during the early … Continue reading “Katherine Johnson Human Calculator Dies”
At the end of the most-watched Women’s World Cup ever, an exciting final pitted the Netherlands against reigning champions the U.S.A. The Oranje held off the Stars and Stripes for the first half, but in the end the experience of the American team showed as goals from Rapinoe and Lavelle gave them their fourth World … Continue reading “Winners!”