Today is International day of women and girls in science.

And here is the supremely talented @bertyashley
to talk about some amazing Indian women and their contributions to science. #WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM

Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal, a pioneering cytogeneticist was awarded the Padma Shri in 1977. She was invited by Nehru to lead the Botanical Survey of India.

She created a high-yielding, sweet tasting strain of Sugarcane. Next time you eat a jaggery sweet remember her.

Kamala Sohonie, the first Indian woman to be granted a PhD in a scientific discipline, on applying to the IISc was refused by C.V Raman. She held a satyagraha till he relented and paved the way for women in.

Discovered that every cell of plant tissue contains ‘cytochrome C’.

Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi, at the age of 14 lost her newborn son due to lack of medical facilities. This drove her to study at the first women’s medical program in the world at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1886, graduating to become India's first woman physician.

Asima Chatterjee, the first woman Doctor of Science was an organic & phyto-chemist whose research on vinca-alkaloids led to the development of anti-epileptic & anti-malarial drugs. She was also the first woman to be elected as the General President of the Indian Science Congress.

Rajeshwari Chatterjee was the first woman engineer from Karnataka. After obtaining a PhD from the Uni. of Michigan, she returned to India, joined the IISc and with her husband set up a pioneering microwave research lab.

Till the end she was a driving force for women in STEM.

Bibha Chowdhuri, one of India's earliest physicists was the first to discover mesons using nuclear emulsion. Her work with DM Bose led to the discovery of bosons.

In 2019 a star 340 light years away was named ‘Bibha’ by the IAU to honour Indian women's contribution in science.

Irawati Karve, the first female Indian Anthropologist was also a collector of folk songs and translated feminist poetry. She was the first female author from Maharashtra to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi in 1968. You can visit the ‘Irawati Karve Museum of Anthropology,’ at SPPU.

Kamal Ranadive was one of the first scientists to claim that breast cancer is hereditary. She started India’s first tissue culture lab and also founded the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA) in 1973. Her work on M. leprae led to the upgrade on Leprosy vaccine in India.

B Vijayalakshmi, one of the most brilliant physicists, studied how interacting higher spin theories can be constructed in external electromagnetic & gravitational fields. Even though wheelchair-bound she published articles and gave lectures that resonated around the physics world

Anna Mani is renowned for her work in atmospheric physics. Her study of radiation, ozone and atmospheric electricity, both on the surface and in the upper air led her to joining the Meteorological Department.

She eventually became the Deputy Director General of Observatories.

If you’d like to know more about contemporary Indian Women in Science, I would highly recommend the book ‘31 Fantastic Adventures in Science: Women Scientists of India’ by @nandita_j and Aashima Freidog. #WomenInScience #WomenInScienceDay #WomenInSTEM