The Science & Technology Group

Organising committee:  Tanya Dempster, Paul McKay, Bill Devitt, Kurt and Lynda Kovach - science@ashbyu3a.co.uk -

This group is for both people who have a general interest in science as well as those whose careers have been in this area. We meet monthly with talks given mainly by members on a mixture of science/ engineering topics, some science news, information about famous scientists, good YouTube ideas and even the occasional practical activity.

We normally meet in the main hall at Packington Village Hall, High Street, Packington LE65 1WJ on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 2pm.
Parking is limited, so please try to car-share if possible.

Tuesday 13th January.

'Amazing Women in Science, Medicine and Engineering.' A talk by Professor Catrin Rutland. University of Nottingham

If you ask a child to draw a picture of a scientist inevitably they draw a man in a white coat. If you ask Goggle for images of scientists or engineers you have to search hard for female images. So were there really no or few women who contributed in these fields in the past? Or have their contributions been downgraded and forgotten?

Such stereotypes images in society are very slowly changing, the majority of vet students are now female, in biology the majority are female students but men still become the professors. Male Nobel prize winners greatly outnumber female, male collaborators in a team often being given the credit.

Images are important as children quickly assume these stereotypes while in primary school and females often assume certain careers are not available to women. So 50% of talent could be wasted. Parents with positive attitudes are the biggest counter influence, and the prominent women in science and engineering often credit their father for active encouragement.

So if not on Google or Wikipedia where is evidence of female contributions in these fields? Well the first seems to date from 3,000 BC. Marsa the Jewess was the founder of alchemy who wrote and publish works under her own name. She invented distillation of alcohol amongst other things. The famous library at Alexandra in classical times was available to many female scholars. Metrodora was a physician who wrote ‘On the Diseases and Cures of Women’, which is the oldest known medical book written by a female. In the Middle Ages Hildegard of Bingen, a German nun, established a series of convents which provided women with an education including in science and medicine. In Italy Anna Morandi Manzolini in the 16th century, was an distinguished anatomist and lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna. She became internationally known for the production of anatomical wax models based on dissections. In 1732 Laura Bassi, an Italian woman, was the first woman to have a doctorate, a Ph.D. in science at the University of Bologna in Italy, and taught physics there.

Elizabeth Cavendish (Bess of Hardwick) was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society and published some scientific papers. Anna Atkins was an English botanist and photographer, and the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Ada Lovelace is now famous as the first computer programmer. Her father was the poet Lord Byron but he deserted the family when she was only 6 months old. Her mother was therefore determined to give her daughter a sound education in science and mathematics, not poetry!

James Barry (18th century) was a distinguished military surgeon. He improved conditions for wounded soldiers and native inhabitants. He performed the first recorded caesarean section by a European in Africa in which both the mother and child survived the surgery. He eventually rose to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. Only after death was he was shown to be woman who had disguised herself as man in order to study and practice medicine, so his contribution was later downgraded. Another notable medic was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson a physician and suffragist. The first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon and founded the London School of Medicine for Women - the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. As mayor of Aldeburgh, and also the first female mayor in Britain, Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing but should also be recognised for establishing her nursing school at St Thomas' Hospital in London - the first secular nursing school in the world.

Beatrix Potter is best known for her children's books which she wrote to make a living but had a love of flora and fauna, which she closely observed and painted. Potter's study and watercolours of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology. Dorothy Bate was a Welsh palaeontologist and pioneer of archaeozoology. At the age of nineteen she got a job at the Natural History Museum the first woman to be employed as a scientist by the museum. There she remained for fifty years but was a piece-worker, paid only by the number of fossils she prepared. She travelled extensively discovering new fossils, but often at her own expense.

Prejudice and lack of recognition continued until more recently. Dorothy Annie Garrod was the first woman to hold a chair at either Oxford or Cambridge and that was as late as after WW2. Rosalind Franklin’s work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA and RNA., but her contribution to understanding the structure of DNA was largely unrecognised during her life, Crick and Watson took the full credit and were awarded Nobel prizes. The book and film ‘Hidden Figures’ recently brought to light the essential role of Mary Jackson, the first African American in NASA and her significant role in the space program.

More recently severe discrimination was experienced by Professor Katalin Karikó. She was demoted by the university of Pennsylvania, her research funding cut. But her research laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines, which led to the development of the Covid vaccine. So yes, there have been many contributions by women in medicine, science and engineering but it would often be a struggle to qualify them and their contribution is less recognised.

Coffee rota- A thank you to Mary and Annie who served and washed up. Julia has offered to help next time. If you have not yet served a turn, could you please offer.

Next meeting 10th February ‘Are you prepared for when your loved ones fall ill?’ A talk by Richard Nevin – an NHS First Responder.

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