Graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Astronomy in 1974 and did graduate work in Computer Science at USC. Before receiving her Astronomy degree, she joined Jet Propulsion Laboratory for temporary summer employment, and accepted a position after receiving her degree in the Outer Planet Satellite Ephemeris Development Group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a senior engineer (1974–1981). In March 1979, she discovered the anomalous “crescent” off the limb of Jupiter’s moon Io in a picture of Io taken by Voyager 1 for navigation, after the Voyager 1 close encounter with Jupiter. She proposed a series of hypotheses and conducted investigations to prove or disprove them, to identify the “crescent”. She was able to deduce that the observation was a plume erupting from the surface of Io, and volcanic in origin. Her discovery was announced to the world on March 12, 1979. This was the first non-Earth volcanic eruption ever witnessed and the first proof that other bodies in our solar system are geologically active. Her discovery of active geology on other worlds is heralded as one of the most important discoveries of the planetary exploration program. (Linda A. Morabito)
At age fourteen, invented a device to demonstrate when packaged food had gone out of date, which won the 42nd Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2006. The judges said it involved “a highly innovative and creative use of experimental biology” and that it was “very impressive” and “a novel use of technology”. (Aisling Judge)
Scientists Discover a Cost Effective Way to Produce Hydrogen from Urine ↘
Do you love the adventure of a road trip, but could do without the constant gas station pit stops to refuel and – ahem – release? Well, chemists have found a way to combine refueling your car and relieving yourself by creating a new catalyst that is able to extract hydrogen from urine. The process which was discovered by Gerardine Botte of Ohio University focuses in on a catalyst that would have a variety of applications, including fuel for hydrogen powered cars and cleaning up municipal waters.
At last, my childhood dream of in-car toilets may yet become a practical idea!!! And it could save the world too!
My buddy Mallory wrote some rad comics about Women in Science for the Smithsonian Channel. Check ‘em out!
Pioneered comprehensive surveys of the night sky, carefully categorizing every visible object in the void. Wrote an influential catalogue of nebulae, of which she discovered three. Discovered eight comets and the dwarf galaxy Messier 110. (Caroline Lucretia Herschel)
(Possibly) created the first calendars, with bones marked for 6 lunar months—which is also in accordance with the average menstrual cycle.
Pioneered the field of radioactivity, discovered polonium and radium, ran mobile X-ray units on the battlefields of WWI, oversaw the earliest research into radiation for cancer treatments, forced a reconsideration of the foundations of physics, while being the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. (Marie Curie)
Helped develop the process of separating uranium into the U-235 and U-238 isotopes by gaseous diffusion in the Manhattan Project. (Chien-Shiung Wu)
