Female inventors that changed the world
Great female inventors shaped the modern world as we know it today. Yet, we often forget the ladies that have made a mark on history. That’s why we’ll go through these wonderful women and their remarkable contributions.
We’ll start with the achievements and inventions of women in the past. Then, we’ll discuss the female inventors who continue to show women’s excellence. More importantly, we’ll explain why there aren’t many female inventors and how to help more of them.
Women in the past fought hard to achieve equality with men. Still, we find some negative bias lingering in parts of society. That’s why we should continue to recognize their achievements and help the female inventors of the future.
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Female inventors trailblazing the past
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
- Mary Kies – She was the first woman to get a patent in the United States. Back then, female inventors didn’t bother getting them due to unfair laws. Fortunately, she got a patent on May 5, 1809, for weaving straw with silk.
- Marie Van Brittan Brown – She was a black woman who got scared of the bad crime rate in her New York City neighborhood. Worse, the police response was too slow. In response, Brown made a system that lets her see people at her doorstep. Then, in case something goes wrong, she could press a button to call the police quickly.
- Elizabeth Magie – She was the true inventor of the Monopoly board game. She created it to show the problems with capitalism. However, the Parker Brothers company took credit for the game. As a result, she didn’t get recognition until several decades later.
- Dr. Shirley Jackson – She was the physicist who made the caller ID and called waiting. Dr. Jackson was also the female inventor for other telecom-related items. These include touch-tone telephone, fiber optic cables, and solar cells.
- Marie Curie – She was the Polish physicist who came up with the Theory of Radioactivity. Curie also discovered two elements called polonium and radium. What’s more, she was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes!
- Rosalind Franklin – She discovered how DNA structures looked like. Also, she made carbon fiber and other materials.
- Grace Hopper – In 1944, she and Howard Aiken designed Harvard’s Mark I computer. Also, she made it possible to translate written language into computer code. In other words, we should thank her for inventing modern computer programming.
- Hedy Lamarr – You’re probably using wi-fi right now to view this article. Well, thank Hedy Lamarr for making this wireless technology. She was an actress during World War II who helped make a communications system for the US Navy.
- Maria Telkes – Also known as the “Sun Queen,” Telkes made the first 100% solar-powered house. The Hungarian Scientist also created other items that run on solar energy. These include sun-powered ovens and heating systems.
Female inventors leading the future
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
- Agnès Poulbot – This French researcher improved car tires. Her tire-tread design makes them much stronger and lasts longer. As a result, it helps the car use less fuel and produce less carbon dioxide.
- Esther Sans Takeuchi – Some people need pacemakers to help their hearts beat. However, it runs out of charge fast. As a result, the user often needed a major operation to replace the battery. In 2005, the devices got updated based on Takeuchi’s designs.
- Ursula Keller – She’s the female inventor behind ultrafast lasers. These are very helpful in numerous fields. For example, doctors use them to cut out cancers precisely.
- Ann Lambrechts – She created the steel wire element that made reinforced concrete stronger. It helped in creating structures that can’t be built with old methods.
- Catia Bastioli – She made bio-plastics that turn into the soil within 3-8 weeks. This could replace plastics and reduce pollution.
- Jane ní Dhulchaointigh – She’s the Irish product designer who made Sugru. It’s a mouldable glue that can help people fix things much easier.
- Ann Tsukamoto – She’s the female inventor of stem cell isolation. Tsukamoto uses this to learn more about parts of the body and diseases.
- Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta – They created the solar lighting device LuminAID. It was easy to carry and waterproof. It provides light during emergencies.
Why aren’t there many female inventors?
Throughout history, many cultures didn’t see women as equal to men. Instead, they were given specific roles, and they weren’t allowed to choose otherwise.
Fortunately, things changed as women’s rights movements spread across the world. Yet, there are many reasons why we don’t have a lot of female inventors:
- Fewer women work than men
- Girls don’t learn about female inventors early
- Lack of women in STEM fields
- Women avoid fields that need patents
- Family problems
- Lack of social connections
- Not enough funding
- Some women don’t see the point in patents
- Some patent offices are biased against women
How can we help more female inventors?
Of course, we have lots of ways to help more women become inventors. We will need to change many things to make it happen. Here are some of them:
- Collect data on women better
- Help more women enter STEM fields
- Give them better funding and other needs
- Help them learn and work together
- Getting patents should be easier and cheaper
- Support women’s rights
- Encourage more research
What’s more, you can do something to help too. For example, people don’t know a lot about female inventors, right? Well, tell folks about them then! The internet lets you do it in so many ways.
For example, you could post more stuff about them. Spread articles like this one to tell people about these amazing women. That way, more people will know about what they’ve done.
What’s more, you could show support for women’s rights. Post stuff about it too. Also, like and subscribe to online social groups that fight for these.
Support the real-life groups that help too. For example, the IFIA has a group that promotes women inventors. They may have programs that you could help too.
This can help young women do more in their lives. In turn, this will give more young girls the chance to become female inventors.
Final thoughts
The lack of female inventors isn’t just a problem for women. It’s an issue for the world. This holds back what we can do as a people.
Many of them have so much to give to the world. Sadly, we don’t do enough to help their potential. We should help them so they can help us later.
Educating them lets them invent stuff. Provide enough resources, and they could use those to improve our lives. Helping female inventors helps the world.
We would need to change a lot in our societies. It may be hard at first, but it’s worth it. Their progress helps the whole of humanity advance in numerous ways.
Learn more about female inventors
Who are the most famous women inventors?
The most well-known is Marie Curie. However, there are many others like Rosalind Franklin and Grace Hopper. You may check the list above to learn more.
Who was the first female inventor?
Mary Kies was the first woman who got a patent. However, women made stuff further back in history. They’ve been making things before patents came to be.
Why are there few female inventors?
We lack women in the STEM fields. This reduces the number of women who could make new things. This issue has other factors, though.
