Title: How did women contributed our discovery?

The context

Women have always participated in science although their role has generally been undervalued and even invisible. However, 5 women noted and contributed knowledge in the construction of the periodic table and the discovery of new elements.

In the second half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, the five physical and chemical women discovered elements were born: Marie Curie, Lise Meitner, Ida Noddack, Berta Karlik and Marguerite Perey.

[Image: 5 women sicentits photo]

The context

In its day, most of the more or less abundant elements in nature were known, and these five female scientists, between 1898 and 1940, discovered six new radioactive elements, present in very small quantities in nature, by insulating some compounds, and/or obtaining some isotope from radioactivity phenomena.

These female scientists, like many others, lived in total inequality of conditions with their colleagues, who were recognised and accessed better jobs without so much difficulty.

How did women contributed our discovery?

- [Image: Rhenium]
- [Image: Astatine]
- [Image: Barium]
- [Image: Francium]
- [Image: Polonium]
- [Image: Proactinium]
Q: Po
A: [Image: Barium]; [Image: Polonium]
Q: Ra
A: [Image: Polonium]; [Image: Barium]
Q: At
A: [Image: Astatine]
Q: Fr
A: [Image: Francium]
Q: Pa
A: [Image: Proactinium]
Q: Re
A: [Image: Rhenium]

Five physical and chemical women discovering elements

- Maria Salomea Sklodowska (1867-1934), Marie Curie by her married name, was a Polish physicist and chemist. In 1898, with her husband Pierre Curie, she discovered polonium (Po) and isolated the radium (Ra) of pechblenda, both radioactive and in small quantities in nature.
- Lise Meitner (1878–1968), Austrian Jewish physicist, isolated with Otto Hahn the radioactive element protoactinium (Pa), in 1918, and devoted himself to studies of nuclear fission. The element meitneri (Mt), discovered many years after her death, is the only element named after a female scientist.
- Ida Eva Tacke (1896–1976), Ida Noddack by her married name, was a German chemist and physicist, and the first scientist to mention the idea of nuclear fission. In 1925, she discovered, with who later became her husband, the non-radioactive element rhenium (Re), and very scarce in nature, which she isolated from molybdenite.
- Berta Karlik (1904–1990), Austrian physicist and mathematician, identified the astatine (At) in nature, in 1943, after his artificial synthesis by a team from Berkeley in 1940. It is the least abundant element of all on Earth, it is radioactive, and it is possible key element for radiotherapy for cancer medical research.
- Marguerite Perey (1909–1975) was a French physicist disciple of Marie Curie, who conducted her thesis. He discovered the radioactive element called francium (Fr) in 1939, which is the second least abundant elemeny on Earth, after the astatine, and is the last element to be discovered in nature before being synthesized.