In her 1806 book Conversations on Chemistry, Marcet an influential science writer, taught chemistry lessons through fictional conversations between a teacher and her two female students. This popular book went through numerous editions and was published in many different languages.
In 1965 Stephanie Kwolek created the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness. The best-known member is Kevlar, a material used in protective vests as well as in boats, airplanes, ropes, cables, and much more—in total about 200 applications.
In 1986 Susan Solomon provided the most conclusive evidence for the theory proposed 13 years earlier that CFCs could be destroying the protective layer of ozone in the earth’s upper atmosphere.
Seminal work published in 1912 by Leonor Michaelis (1875–1949) and Maud Leonora Menten (1879–1960), a German man and a Canadian woman, cast light on the reasons why enzymes are so efficient.
Head of pharmacology at Rhône Poulenc in the 1950s
After attending Harvard Medical School, Nancy Chang’s career trajectory led her to cofound Tanox (now part of Genentech), a company that sought remedies for asthma and allergies through genetic engineering.
A husband-and-wife team of biochemists revolutionized diagnostic urine testing with their invention of an easy-to-use, chemically coated paper dipstick that measures a patient’s blood sugar by changing color when dipped in a urine sample.
Jacqueline Barton probes DNA by shooting electrons through it. Using custom-built molecules to direct these electrical currents, she can locate genes, see how they are arranged, and scan them for damage.
Barton hopes that these techniques will lead to new ways to diagnose diseases and treat them through DNA repair. To further this end she cofounded GeneOhm Sciences in 2001, which became part of Becton, Dickinson and Company in 2006.
American chemist who worked on materials for the space program, reusable molds for spacecraft construction built from molybdenum disilicides and tungsten disilicides, and the disposal and treatment of hazardous wastes.
From the 1940s through the 1960s Louis and Mary Fieser wrote several successful chemistry textbooks, in which they described real applications of chemistry for medicine and industry.