No. 10 - Maria Mitchell

 
Discovering a comet ought to get you some street cred as an astronomer, right?

Not necessarily.

Though Mitchell, born in 1818, was the first female member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was widely known throughout the world, she was still paid less than her male colleagues at Vassar - or at least she was until she stood her ground.

In addition to discovering "Miss Mitchell's comet," she also found that sunspots were an independent phenomenon and not a type of cloud.

When she wasn't behind a telescope, Mitchell was politically active, campaigning against slavery and for women's suffrage. All in all, a thoroughly modern woman.

Top 10 Women in Science    10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1    Next »

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