STEM, or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, is a crucial part of our world and how we understand it. The study started with the philosophers in Rome who first suggested that some things occurred without the interference of higher beings. Today, it is nearly impossible to go anywhere or do anything that has not been influenced or touched by STEM. It has helped cure diseases, connect the world, get us to the moon, and much more. However, STEM has been a primarily male-dominated field for the entirety of its existence. Women throughout the history of STEM have had to claw their way to get recognition. These women have impacted the world and are often forgotten, but this article is here to celebrate them.
Mathematics and Philosophy
Philosophy was the start of anything relating to STEM, originating in countries such as Greece, Egypt, and Rome. From philosophy, mathematics began to form, and many scholars studied both at the same time. One of these scholars was Hypatia of Alexandria. Hypatia was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and followed in her father’s footsteps in mathematics and Philosophy. Hypatia continued his effort to preserve the Greek mathematical and astronomical heritage during a time they were being erased. She also worked on original pieces such as commentaries on Apollonius of Perga’s Conics (geometry) and Diophantus of Alexandria’s Arithmetic (number theory). She also worked and commentated on the astronomical table. These commentaries pushed the program initiated by her father into more recent and more difficult areas and ideas. Hypatia, unfortunately, died from an extremist group against the science and discoveries of Alexandria. However, that did not erase her influence on STEM today.
Psychology and Social Work
The late 1800s and early 1900s was filled with discoveries, more specifically for Psychology and the start of sociology as its own practice. Social science was being taken more seriously, and therapy was developing the practices used today. One of the most common forms of therapy, psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, was coined by Bertha Pappenheim. After the death of her father, she began having extreme anxiety attacks and hallucinations, and began treatment with Joseph Breuer. It started with hypnosis, but then morphed into the early versions of psychotherapy. Breuer published an article about his time with Pappenheim, under the pen name Anna O, and how she experienced the therapy. Pappenheim later went on to be the pioneer of social work in German and put an emphasis on how important the practice was. It paved the way for the practice to be common among middle class women.
Technology
Finally, modern technology wouldn’t have been possible without two outstanding women in the 20th century. Famous for her acting career, Hedy Lamarr moved to America right before the start of WWII. She continued her film career in America, but was also an excellent inventor. She created a Secret Communication System with composer George Antheil during the war. The system used frequency hopping to guide torpedoes and make them untrackable. The invention was incorporated into the US Navy during WWII and was later used during the Cuban missile crisis. This technology was also the predecessor to inventions such as Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. Despite this, Lamarr and Antheil were both not paid a cent for their work. However, they jointly won the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1997.
Shortly after Hedy Lammarr, Marian Croak came into the technological world. She joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1982 and saw the potential in the newly forming Internet. She made the internet and cellular phones her focus and developed Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP). This technology converts voice into a digital signal, creating a call directly from a computer or other digital device. She also invented the technology of text-based donations to charity. She won the Edison Patent Award in 2013 and 2014 and is currently working at Google as the Vice President of Engineering.
Our day-to-day life wouldn’t be possible without these incredible women. They have brought us strides in STEM and paved the way for young women all over the world. Women have created today through hard work in the past, and they are still working to create the next future.
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Sources cited:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hypatia
https://www.lbi.org/collections/german-jewish-feminism-in-the-twentieth-century/bertha-pappenheim/
https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/marian-croak
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/hedy-lamarrs-wwii-invention-helped-shape-modern-tech
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/psychotherapies
