As children, we were always taught about specific distinguished scientists and their works: Albert Einstein with his tongue sticking out and his theory of relativity and Issac Newton with a bump on his head from an apple that “bonked” off his head and his discovery of physics. As iconic as these scientists may be, their images often take up the stage and make the stories and discoveries of other scientists mere shadows.
American anatomist Florence Rena Sabin is an example of such a scientist in the shadows. As Britannica states, Sabin conducted groundbreaking “research on the lymphatic system and was considered to be one of the leading women scientists of the United States… [She] was elected to the National Academy of Sciences…becoming the first woman to receive [this] honor.” She made revolutionary discoveries that led to a greater understanding of the nature of the disease tuberculosis.
African-American mathematician and astronomer Katherine Johnson also deserves recognition. As National Geographic tells, “Using her mathematics skills, she helped NASA send astronauts to the moon and return them safely home.” Her calculations were crucial to the success of the first U.S. crewed spaceflights. Her success is especially important as she battled both racial discrimination and misogyny in the white male dominanted workforce to make herself and her work noted.
Indian scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar developed the Chandrasekar limit, which Oxford Royale explains it as “the concept that above a certain mass, electron degeneracy pressure in the core of a white dwarf star is not enough to counterbalance the gravitational self-attraction of the star.” This revolutionary breakthrough has allowed for significant progress in the field of astronomy.
While textbooks may not mention their names, their stories and discoveries live on.
