Groundbreaking Women of Science

Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), 12 St James's Square, Westminster, London

Born Augusta Byron, Ada was the daughter of poet Lord Byron. Following the break up of her parents' marriage, Ada was brought up by her mother, Anne.

Ada was tutored in mathematics and science, and at age seventeen was introduced to the mathematician Charles Babbage. She became fascinated with his first mechanical calculator, the difference engine, and his ideas for an Analytical Engine.

Ada's writings include what is considered to be one of the earliest computer programs, and she saw the potential for using punched card technology in the analytical engine.

Mary Anning (1799–1847), Parish Church of St Michael, Lyme Regis, Dorset

Mary Anning was a fossil collector, fossil dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for discovering important Jurassic marine fossils.

Mary was born in the seaside town of Lyme Regis. Her reputation grew in the 1820s and 1830s, and she became known to the scientific community and general public.

Mary died in 1847 and was buried in the churchyard of Lyme's parish church. A window commemorating her was installed in the church in 1850.

The Parish Church of St Michael is Listed Grade I

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994), Somerville College, Oxford

As a young girl, Dorothy Hodgkin developed a passion for crystals and chemistry, even creating a laboratory in the attic of her home in Norfolk.

In 1928, Margaret entered Somerville College in Oxford to read Chemistry. She graduated with first-class honours and went to Cambridge as a research student at the crystallography laboratory. She returned to Somerville and set up her own X-ray facility.

Margaret's notable work included investigating the structure of penicillin and solving the structure of vitamin B12.

In 1964 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry, only the fifth woman to have won any scientific Nobel Prize.

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), Bolton Gardens, Kensington and Chelsea, London

Better known for her stories for children, Beatrix Potter was fascinated by natural science and publically challenged an established theory on fungi.

This photograph was taken from Beatrix's birthplace and childhood home, 2 Bolton Gardens in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The photographer was possibly her father, Rupert, a lawyer and amateur artist.

Caroline Herschel (1750-1848),
19 New King Street, Bath

Caroline Herschel was born in Hanover in 1750. In 1772 she moved to live in England with her musician brother William, who had settled in Bath some years earlier.

Caroline embarked on a singing career while her brother began to dedicate himself to astronomy, turning their home into a workshop and foundry.

Caroline sacrificed her career to assist William in Bath and later in London, and began to make her own discoveries. She attained respectability in the field and was awarded a royal pension. The diarist, Fanny Burney, described her as 'the celebrated comet-searcher'.

Mary Somerville (1780-1872),
Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London

Born Mary Fairfax, as a child in Scotland, Mary Somerville studied mathematics in secret (her father forbade it), and continued to do so after she had married and moved to London.

Her second husband, William Somerville, encouraged her studies in mathematics and science, and she published her first scientific paper in 1826. Her work on educational books and publications on physical science and geography, including On the Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834), gained her significant recognition.

In 1869 Mary was awarded the patron's gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and Somerville College, Oxford was named in her honour.

When she died in 1872, Mary was hailed by The London Post as 'The Queen of Nineteenth-Century Science'.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, Euston Road, Camden, London

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the sister of suffrage leader Millicent Garrett Fawcett, and mother of fellow medical pioneer and militant suffragette, Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson.

Inspired by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell, the only woman to be included in the General Medical Council's register, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson took up the cause to promote women in the medical profession.

Despite encountering prejudices, in 1865 Elizabeth received the licence of the Society of Apothecaries and became the first woman qualified in Britain to enter the medical register. She was also the first woman to gain a MD degree from the University of Paris.

In 1872 Elizabeth founded the New Hospital for Women in London, staffed entirely by women and later renamed Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital.

Marie Stopes (1880–1958)
Victoria University of Manchester

Marie Stopes' mother was a promoter of women's education. Marie duly excelled in her own education, obtaining a science degree from University College, London, and became the first woman to gain a PhD in botany from the Botanical Institute in Munich, Germany.

In 1904 she was appointed the first woman assistant lecturer in botany at Manchester University, and the following year became the youngest doctor of science in Britain.

A supporter of women's suffrage, Marie joined the Women's Freedom League. She began writing on marriage and birth control, and in 1921 she and her second husband established a birth control clinic in north London.

Annie Maunder (1868–1947)
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London

Annie Maunder studied at Girton College, Cambridge and obtained a post at the Royal Observatory in 1891, in a role described as 'lady computer' or 'supernumerary computer'. This meant that she was employed on a short-term basis on a low wage.

Her marriage to Edward Maunder, her supervisor in the Solar Department, meant that she had to leave her post. Continuing to work voluntarily, she developed her skills, especially in the use of photoheliographs - instruments for photographing the sun.

Annie and Edward often published the results of their work jointly, but in the introduction to The Heavens and their Story (1910), Edward wrote that it was 'almost wholly the work of my wife'.