We're all familiar with the saga of James Watson and Francis Crick discovering the distinctive double-helix structure of DNA. But less well known is Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray diffraction photographs – including "Photo 51" – provided the smoking gun Watson and Crick used to crack the code.
Environmental scientist Rachel Carson fought to make pesticides illegal through her influential book, Silent Spring. Physicist Brian Cox demystifies the universe via TV shows, books and public appearances.
1. Lise Meitner
A remarkable figure, Meitner was Austrian by birth and trained as a chemist, though she focused on radioactivity research. Despite the fact that her father was Jewish, Meitner managed to study and receive a doctorate from the University of Vienna. Her breakthrough came after she witnessed Italian physicist Enrico Fermi bombarding elements to discover new isotopes.
Meitner was able to perform similar experiments using uranium, and she analyzed the resulting isotopes to determine the element’s chemical properties. It turned out that uranium could be split by a neutron, which was the first step in creating nuclear fission.
Meitner was invited to Denmark by Niels Bohr and escaped Nazi Germany on a secret train ride, but she didn't leave her work behind. She continued to develop the discovery in Sweden. It was only after Hiroshima and Nagasaki that her work became widely known.
2. Norman Borlaug
A renowned agronomist, Borlaug is considered the father of the Green Revolution. He worked to save billions of people from starvation by improving wheat.
In order to do this he developed dwarf wheat, which could be grown in many different types of climates. His work was instrumental in India and Pakistan becoming self-sufficient in wheat, which helped them cope with massive population growth.
Borlaug was a man of humble roots, raised on a farm near Cresco, Iowa. He got his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Minnesota and a PhD in plant protection at the same university.
He was a man who wanted to help people from all nations, not just the richer ones. He was known for his down-to-earth personality, a wry sense of humor, and his ability to understand the problems of farmers worldwide.
3. Katalin Kariko
Kariko was obsessed with messenger RNA, the genetic material that tells cells to make proteins. She knew it could one day treat diseases that aren't hereditary, but needed treatment with drugs rather than permanent DNA changes.
When her research was first dismissed, she resisted the urge to quit. Instead, she worked even harder. She slept at her lab most nights, and spent every New Year's Day working.
Her perseverance paid off, and this year, she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Drew Weissman for their work on mRNA-based vaccines to prevent disease. Kariko has a few lessons for the next generation of scientists. She says to always remember "experiments never err, your expectations do." Be humble and gracious when receiving criticism, and don't take it personally. "It's just a part of the game." She adds, "Don't give up." You'll get there eventually.
4. Jennifer Doudna
Doudna, who was born in Hawaii and grew up surrounded by volcanoes, lush forests, and remote beaches, says that nature's beauty instilled in her an appreciation for the natural world. She credits that experience with "setting the stage" for her later career in science.
After earning her PhD in 1989, she took a fellowship with Thomas Cech at the University of Colorado. There she helped to decipher the three-dimensional atomic structure of the Tetrahymena group I ribozyme, using x-ray crystallography to do so.
It was in 2012 that Doudna, along with French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier, discovered the molecular tool known as CRISPR-Cas9. This revolutionary gene editing technology allows scientists to alter DNA sequences, potentially eradicating diseases and creating healthier babies. But it also raises concerns about the potential for unintended consequences. Isaacson's latest book tells the story of this scientific revolution and the woman who launched it.
5. Sahin Tureci
Dr Ugur Sahin and his wife Ozlem were doctors on a cancer ward in southwest Germany when they began work on a technology that could turn tumours into weapons of war. Then they discovered that tumours are too varied to be fought with a single catch-all drug.
So they set about developing an approach that uses genetic material called messenger RNA to trick cells into producing proteins that look like the virus. This allows the immune system to learn and respond fast, before the virus has a chance to mutate.
Their company BioNTech now has a vaccine that’s been shown to be up to 90 per cent effective against Covid-19 in early trials. This documentary will follow the couple as they seek to turn that initial success into a game-changing medicine for everyone. And make it affordable, too.
6. Hedy Epstein
After narrowly escaping Nazi persecution, Hedy Epstein dedicated her life to human rights activism. She worked for anti-war, civil rights, and pro-Palestinian causes.
In the 1960s, she became involved with the Greater St. Louis chapter of Freedom of Residence, an organization that helped end housing discrimination. Later, she worked as a paralegal for Chackes and Hoare, specializing in employment discrimination cases.
Hedy was a longtime supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and was arrested in 2014 during a protest over the death of Michael Brown by police. She also co-founded the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Hedy died on Thursday, aged 91. Her last words were: "Don’t hate, remember the past and don't be a bystander." She will be missed.
7. Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin is an important example of the many scientists—particularly women, minorities and people with different sexual orientations—who haven't received the recognition they deserve for their work. She was an expert in X-ray crystallography, and her hard work helped to create Photograph 51, the image that revealed the helical structure of DNA.
After the war, she worked at Laboratorie Central des Services Chimiques de l'Etat in Paris. There she learned and perfected the technique of X-ray crystallography, also known as atomic-structure determination.
Her expertise led to many trusting and fruitful collaborations, including with Aaron Klug, a fellow chemist at Birkbeck College. But just as her career was on the rise—she had traveled the world giving talks about coal and viruses—Franklin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September 1956. She continued to work during periods of remission and pushed for funding for her team.
8. William Fleming
ROANOKE, Va. - William Fleming graduate Qwonneshia King has signed to play basketball at Longwood University. The point guard led the Colonels to a state semifinal appearance last season and now will continue her career on the next level.
He emigrated to Virginia in 1755, and entered George Washington's regiment, engaging in border warfare and rising to the rank of captain. In 1774 he raised a regiment that he commanded as a colonel.
As a surgeon in Major Lewis's company on the Sandy Creek Expedition of 1758, he experienced frequent attacks by the Shawnee and severe clothing shortages. He wrote a journal of the campaign, published in full in Thwaites and Kellogg's Dunmore's War, that contains an important account of camp life. He later served in the Senate of Virginia representing Botetourt, Montgomery and Kentucky Counties.
9. Richard Feynman
Feynman's life and personality set him apart from the usual image of a distant, all-work-and-no-play scientist. He was a keen popularizer of science, writing many physics books for non-scientists as well as a three volume book of his undergraduate lectures. He was also involved in the Manhattan Project, helping Hans Bethe design the water reactor at Los Alamos and calculating the neutron equations to determine how close an assembly of fissile material could get to criticality.
This book is a little shorter than Gleick's and more focused on Feynman as a person. It's a great book for anyone who wants to understand why scientists are such fun people. Feynman's father taught him to always ask what he did not know, which helped him free himself from the tyranny of convention and allowed him to discover all sorts of things about nature.
10. Elizabeth Blackburn
Blackburn won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Carol Greider for discovering the molecular nature of telomeres, which are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. Her discovery led to a new field of study, shedding light on degenerative diseases and cancer.
An Australian-born American molecular biologist and biochemist, Blackburn received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Melbourne. During her undergraduate years, she vacillated between mathematics and biology. But two books steered her toward science: one was about Marie Curie's struggle in a Paris garret, the other described radium's toxic effects. After graduation, she joined the laboratory of American cell biologist Jack Szostak, who was studying chromosomes and telomeres. He and Blackburn used a single-celled protozoan called Tetrahymena to reveal the structure of telomeres. They found that the telomeric sequence of repeated DNA segments is what enables cells to divide.
