Lost Women of Science

Our associate producer, Sophie McNulty, rummages through boxes in a Connecticut basement, looking for clues to Dorothy Andersen’s life story. Pediatric critical care physician Dr. John Scott Baird, who published a biography of Dorothy Andersen in 2021, suggests we take a second look at the conventional wisdom surrounding the evolution of cystic fibrosis research in the 1950s. And in this updated episode, we interview science historian Margaret Rossiter, who coined the term “Matilda Effect” to describe how credit for work done by female scientists too often goes to their male colleagues. We examine how this affected Dorothy Andersen and her groundbreaking research into cystic fibrosis. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A few important things have happened in the three years since we first aired The Pathologist in the Basement, the story of Dr. Dorothy Andersen, the first to identify cystic fibrosis. It’s safe to say that Dr. Anderson is now a little less lost. In Episode 1, Dr. Andersen sleuths her way to the discovery of cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease that affects the lungs, the pancreas, and a host of other organs. So, who was Dorothy Andersen, and how did she come to make this seminal medical contribution? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When poet Jessy Randall started researching the lives of female scientists she became angry. And we certainly can relate here at Lost Women of Science. So many women made important discoveries but received little recognition. In this episode of Lost Women of Science Conversations, Randall talks to Carol Sutton Lewis about Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science, the collection of poems born of that anger. They discuss what it means to be the first in a field, the ethics of poetic license, and the importance of female role models in STEM. Randall’s poems are about some of the women we’ve featured in our podcast, including the first Black female doctor, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and the physicist Lise Meitner. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Psychologist Elizabeth Bates challenged prevailing theories on human language acquisition, sparking intense debates with linguists like Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky. Bates believed language emerges from brain-environment interactions, not an innate capacity, reshaping perspectives on cognition and language. The podcast explores the clash between established theories and innovative ideas in linguistics, shedding light on the legacy of Bates' groundbreaking work in language studies.

Meet Melba Phillips, a pioneering theoretical physicist who worked with J. Robert Oppenheimer. They discovered the Oppenheimer-Phillips Process, a key nuclear reaction explanation. Although Phillips opposed nuclear weapons, she faced adversity during the McCarthy era. Her resilient journey and impact in theoretical physics inspire.

Astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, known for her groundbreaking discovery of what stars are made of, paved the way for female astronomers. The podcast explores her journey of discovery, the challenges she faced, and her collaboration with astronomer Sergei Koposkin at the Harvard Observatory. It highlights the importance of women astronomers in reshaping scientific knowledge and their invaluable contributions to astrophysics.

Annie Maunder, a Victorian woman astronomer, embarked on a journey to photograph a total solar eclipse in 1897, shedding light on her fascinating passion for the sun. The podcast delves into her inspiring adventures and the challenges faced by early female scientists in a male-dominated field. It highlights her groundbreaking research and the significance of studying solar phenomena and eclipses to connect astronomical events with Earth.

In this episode of Lost Women of Science Conversations, Michelle Nijhuis talks to historian Catherine McNeur about how she rediscovered the lives and work of Elizabeth and Margaretta Morris, two natural scientists who made significant contributions to botany and entomology in the mid-19th Century. Elizabeth collected rare plant species and sent them to institutions around the world, and Margaretta not only discovered new insects but also helped farmers combat the pests that were devastating their fields. Nevertheless, by both design and accident, these women were lost to history. McNeur tells us how that happened and how, piece by piece, she recovered their stories. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

While working at the Salk Institute in California, Ursula Bellugi discovered that sign language was made up of specific building blocks that were assembled following strict rules, much like in spoken language. Her subsequent discoveries about the complexities of sign language led both to linguistic breakthroughs and to changes in the way deaf people felt about signing. Bellugi demonstrated that sign language is as rich and complex as any spoken language. Her work deepened our understanding of what it means to communicate as humans. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Katharine “Kay” Way was a nuclear physicist who worked at multiple Manhattan Project sites. She was an expert in radioactive decay. But after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, she became increasingly concerned about the ethics of nuclear weapons. Dr. Way signed the Szilard Petition and worked to spread awareness of the moral responsibility surrounding atomic weaponry, including co-editing the influential One World or None: a Report to the Public on the Full Meaning of the Atomic Bomb, remaining an outspoken advocate for fairness and justice. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices