D.to Marie Curie to Fabiola Gianotti, from Sally laughs to Maria Telkes as far as Margherita Hack And Adital Ela. Six great women who did it the history of science and they continue to do so, inspiring the younger generation of girls to follow in their footsteps.
Science is a woman
Because science isn’t just for men. Science is also a woman, even if they are still too few, they decide to take this path. Many are conditioned by atavistic prejudices according to which the a woman would be “not very good” for scientific subjects. A stereotype to be eradicated as soon as possible to bridge the still large gender gap also in education.
For this reason, on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which will be celebrated on 11 February, eDreams, the leading online travel agency in Europe, has compiled a list of destinations who have hosted and welcomed the professional life, the discoveries and the achievements of these excellent personalities, so that, who knows, they can inspire young aspiring scientists in the choice of school and university course.
In Warsaw with Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie it was the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes, one in Physics in 1903 and one in Chemistry in 1911. She was the first professor at the Sorbonne, obtaining a professorship in general physics. Finally, she was responsible for the discovery of two elements, radium and polonium, and the invention of the word “radioactive”. If you want to know more about his work, it is possible to visit in Warsawa few steps from the New Town Square, her home, transformed into a museum that tells the public and private life of this incredible scientist.
Fabiola Gianotti: first director of CERN in Geneva
When you think about Genevaamong the first things that come to mind is the CERN. He runs the largest particle physics laboratory in the world Fabiola Gianotti, first woman to become director and the first CERN member to be elected head of the Institute for two consecutive terms.
Among his many scientific merits is that of having participated in ATLAS, considered the largest experiment ever carried out. In 2012 the famous American weekly “Time” dedicated the cover to herplacing it in the “Personality of the year” ranking.
And in 2017 she joined the Top 100 of the most powerful women in the world according to Forbes. To better understand the work of this woman, you can visit the public areas of CERN and in particular the Microcosm and the Globe of Science and Innovationtwo interactive museums, free and always open to the public in which the structure of the building and its experiments are described.
Science is a woman: at Cape Canaveral with Sally Ride
If you are passionate about missions and spaceships, the perfect place to visit is the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, where you can discover the history of all the most famous space missions and their background. Moreover, thanks to the interactive areas of the museum it is possible to feel like real astronauts leaving for space.
Right here Sally Ride, US astronauttook part in the first training program also open to women. The Kennedy Space Center is also the place that has allowed her to enter history: from here on 18 June 1983 she left for a mission becoming the first American woman to go to space.
Maria Telkes and solar energy
One of the most important museums in the scientific field is based in Boston. The MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which welcomed the work of Maria Telkes, the scientist who made a fundamental contribution to solar energy studiesso much so that she was given the nickname of Sun Queen.
It was in the MIT buildings that Telkes worked for the university research project on solar energy. And in 1940 she developed the first model of heated dwelling powered with this type of energy, instead of fossil fuels.
Among the stars in the sky of Trieste with Margherita Hack
When you think about Margherita Hack you can’t help but think about Trieste. The scientist arrived in the city in the early 1960s to teach astrophysics at the University and has never left her since. It was in Trieste that Hack was entrusted with the task of to direct the Astronomical Observatory, the first Italian woman to have this position. But it achieved its greatest success with the redevelopment of the institute, which was expanded and improved to become a reference point for astrophysics studies. In honor of the scientist’s work and dedication the observatory is named after heropen to visitors and open to the public, which houses the Urania Carsica telescope.
Science is woman: in Tel Aviv with Adital Ela to discover the last frontiers of sustainability
Tel Aviv has many faces, but on the international stage it is making itself known for being the city with the most accelerators and innovation centers in the entire Euro-Mediterranean areaae for discoveries in the scientific field, with particular attention to sustainability.
An example? Through hydroponic agriculture the roofs have been converted into vegetable gardens. Tel Aviv’s climate of innovation inspired the ingenuity of Adital Ela, which gave life to innovative and sustainable solutions: from wind-powered street lamps to lamps built by Arab women with agricultural waste.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED