1. Marie Curie (1867–1934)
The only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences (Physics 1903, Chemistry 1911). Curie discovered polonium and radium, coined the term radioactivity, and developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes. Her work opened the field of nuclear physics.
2. Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958)
Franklin's X-ray crystallography produced Photo 51 — the critical image that revealed DNA's double helix structure. Watson and Crick accessed her data without permission. She died of cancer at 37 without receiving recognition. The Nobel Prize for the DNA discovery went to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins in 1962.
3. Lise Meitner (1878–1968)
Meitner co-discovered nuclear fission with Otto Hahn, explaining the enormous energy released when uranium atoms split. Hahn received the Nobel Prize alone. Element 109, meitnerium, is named after her — one of the few elements named after a specific person.
4. Emmy Noether (1882–1935)
Noether's theorem (1915) is one of the most important results in theoretical physics: every conservation law (energy, momentum, angular momentum) corresponds to a symmetry in nature. Einstein called her the most important woman in mathematical history.
5. Chien-Shiung Wu (1912–1997)
Wu's 1956 experiment proved that parity is not conserved in weak nuclear interactions — overturning a fundamental assumption of particle physics. The male theorists who predicted the result (Lee and Yang) received the Nobel Prize; Wu, who conducted the definitive experiment, did not.
6. Barbara McClintock (1902–1992)
McClintock discovered transposons — "jumping genes" that move within the genome — in maize in the 1940s. The scientific community largely ignored her work for decades. She was finally awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983, at age 81.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the greatest female scientist in history?
Most historians of science place Marie Curie first — she is the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Emmy Noether (mathematics/physics) and Rosalind Franklin (DNA structure) are also frequently cited as near-equal in significance.
Why haven't more women won Nobel Prizes in science?
Systematic exclusion from universities, laboratories, and academic positions throughout history; credit being taken by male collaborators; and the fact that many women's contributions were not recognized until after the Nobel Prize eligibility window closed (Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded posthumously).
What did Rosalind Franklin discover?
Franklin used X-ray crystallography to produce Photo 51, an image that revealed the helical structure of DNA. Her data was accessed without her knowledge by Watson and Crick, who used it as a key piece of evidence for their double helix model.
