Reverse, Reset, Restore

Women Who Accelerated Scientific Discovery - International Women's Month 2025 - Part 6

• Season 1 • Episode 122

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This is Reverse Reset. Restore the podcast where we explore what it means to take action, create new ways of thinking and being, and how all our choices make an impact and shape our lives. I'm Sally, and through my personal journey of self-acceptance and self-care practices, I'm learning that action, no matter how small, leads to transformation. This is episode six of our International Women's Month series. This year's International Women's Day theme, accelerate Action, reminds us that change doesn't happen by itself. It is up to us to push forward. Change comes from within. Science, like much of human history, has long been gate-kept by men, but some extraordinary women refused to be left out. Today, we're celebrating the achievements of Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, two women whose scientific breakthroughs changed the world. Did you know that the machines we rely on today, even the one you're listening to this podcast on, were only possible because a woman dreamed of them? In the 1800s, the first person to conceptualize a computer program and the visionary behind computing theory was wait for it a woman Born in 1815 to Lord Byron and Annabella Milbank. Ada Lovelace, had a tumultuous childhood. Even though she had a wildly famous father, ada did not grow up with him and was not recognised by him, despite what must have been quite a challenging circumstance to be ignored by your father, especially in a time where the societal pressures and gender biases were very much in alignment of where a woman's place was. She was raised with a strong foundation in mathematics and logic. Ada is often called the world's first computer programmer, and she worked alongside Charles Babbage in the 19th century to develop the concept of an early mechanical computer. She envisioned a future where machines could go beyond mere calculations, an idea that laid the foundation for modern computing, and to help make the way for other amazing women who would influence our modern day technology, like Hedy Lamarr, who innovated wireless technology, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and GPS, and Katrin Johnson, a mathematician, who helped calculate the flight path for NASA's first manned space mission and made possible the Apollo moon landing.

Speaker 1:

Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win in two scientific fields, pioneered research in radioactivity. Born in 1867 in Warsaw, poland, marie Curie faced immense gender discrimination in the male-dominated field of science, but, like every badass lady, she didn't let that stop her from pursuing her calling. Together with her husband, pierre Curie, she discovered two new elements, polonium and radium, laying the foundation for the study of radioactivity, which in turn also led to advances in medical treatments, including the use of radiation in cancer therapy. After her husband, pierre, was killed in 1906 in a tragic horse and cart accident, she went on to succeed him in his chair as a professor at the Sorbonne. During the first World War, she created small mobile x-ray units to help diagnose injuries on the battlefield. Her years of radiation exposure would eventually lead to her death, but, despite knowing the dangers of her work, curie continued her research, contributing to the scientific community until her death and, of course, leading to advancements in medical treatments and physics, proving that scientific progress is driven by curiosity, determination and relentless pursuit of knowledge. Despite the barriers placed before both of them, lovelace and Curie advanced human understanding in ways that continue to shape our world. The takeaway Women belong in science, technology and every field of discovery. Their work shows us that curiosity knows no gender and that knowledge is limitless.

Speaker 1:

As we end this episode, I want to share with you a final thought. This quote comes from Marie Curie and it is as timely today as it was when she first said it. In a world where it feels like we're all going to hell in a handbasket, where we are pitted against each other and indoctrinated to hate anything that's different. These words should become the anthem of shared responsibility, building a future and a hope for every single one of us, because each of us deserve our place and it's only by working together we can have any hope in our humanity. She said, you cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.