The Lost Women of Science Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with two overarching and interrelated missions: to tell the story of female scientists who made groundbreaking achievements in their fields—yet remain largely unknown to the general public—and to inspire girls and young women to embark on careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
She Cracked the Mystery of How to Split the Atom, but Someone Else Got the Nobel Prize for the Discovery
Lise Meitner, an Austrian-born Jewish physicist, never received the Nobel Prize she deserved for her pioneering work on nuclear fission
They Remembered the Lost Women of the Manhattan Project So That None of Us Would Forget
Physicists Ruth Howes and Caroline Herzenberg’s 10-year research project ensured a place in history for the female scientists, engineers and technicians who worked on the atomic bomb
Meet the Physicist who Spoke Out against the Bomb She Helped Create
After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear physicist Katharine Way persuaded the world’s greatest physicists to contribute essays to a book opposing nuclear weapons
She Helped Build the Atomic Bomb to Stop the Nazis, But Was Haunted by What It Did to Japan
Here’s the story of the Lilli Hornig, the only female scientist named in the film Oppenheimer.
Meet the Woman Who Supervised the Computations That Proved an Atomic Bomb Would Work
Naomi Livesay worked on computations that formed the mathematical basis for implosion simulations. Despite her crucial role on the project, she is rarely mentioned as more than a footnote—until now
This Lost Woman of the Manhattan Project Saw the Deadly Effects of Nuclear Radiation Up Close
Floy Agnes Lee came to Los Alamos, N.M., in 1945 knowing nothing of the top secret work on the atomic bomb happening all around her—but she studied the blood of the researchers who did
What the Film Oppenheimer Probably Will Not Talk About: The Lost Women of the Manhattan Project
Hundreds of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project were women. They were physicists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians. Today we bring you the story of one of them.
This Astronomer Discovered What the Stars Were Made Of, and Few Believed Her Discovery
Nearly 100 years ago a young astronomer named Cecilia Payne changed the way we see the stars in the sky because she was able to look into their burning heart and see something no one else ever had
How an American Psychiatrist Inspired a Street Name in Germany—And Why That’s So Unusual
Nyswanderweg, a tiny residential street in Hamburg, Germany, is easy to miss. Yet it’s a rare and significant monument to Marie Nyswander
A New Era in Addiction Medicine: A Trailblazing Doctor’s Legacy and the Ongoing Search for a Cure
Medication treatment for heroin addiction has come a long way since its pioneer died. But what would she think of the field today?
Methadone Maintenance versus Synthetic Heaven: Inside the Historic Fight over Heroin Treatment
In the 1970s Marie Nyswander thought that she had finally found a long-term treatment for heroin addiction, but not everyone agreed—including some of the people she was trying to help
These Doctors Fought the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to Treat Addiction—With Drugs
In the early 1960s a trio at the Rockefeller Institute started a bold experiment to change the way heroin addiction was treated, and they did so using a drug originally created by “the devil’s chemist”
From Orgasms to Overdoses: How Marie Nyswander Went from Treating ‘Sexual Frigidity’ to Heroin Addiction
A young psychoanalyst specializing in sexual issues starts getting calls for help—about something else entirely
Marie Nyswander Changed the Landscape of Addiction. Here’s How Her Story Begins
In the first episode of Season Five of the Lost Women of Science podcast, we meet a young doctor who, in 1946, was posted to Kentucky’s Narcotic Farm
This Overlooked Scientist Helped Save Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Trees
Mycologist Flora Patterson helped make the USDA fungus collection into the world’s largest. She also made a mean mushroom “catsup”
Leona Zacharias Helped Solve a Blindness Epidemic among Premature Babies. She Received Little Credit
In the first Lost Women of Science Shorts podcast, host Katie Hafner dives into the life and work of Leona Zacharias—a brilliant researcher who, before reporting this story, Hafner only knew as her grandmother
The Feminist Test We Keep Failing: Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 3 Bonus Episode
There's a test that we at Lost Women of Science seem to fail again and again: the Finkbeiner test
This Black Female Engineer Broke through the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism and Directly Nurtured a Legion of STEM Leaders
Yvonne Y. Clark, known as Y.Y., had a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements. In the final episode of this season’s Lost Women of Science podcast, we see how Y.Y.’s more than five decades of teaching educated a new generation of mechanical engineers, who credit her with helping to change the industry
NASA’s Saturn V Rocket, the Moon Rock Box and the Woman Who Made Them Work Properly
Yvonne Y. Clark, known as Y.Y. throughout her career, had a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements as a Black female mechanical engineer. In the third episode of the third season of the Lost Women of Science podcast, we see how Y.Y.’s brilliance helped make Project Apollo a success
For the ‘First Lady of Engineering,’ Freedom Meant Facing Down Racism and Sexism—And Breaking Her Own Rules
Yvonne Y. Clark, known as Y.Y. throughout her career, had a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements as a Black female mechanical engineer. In the second episode of the newest season of the Lost Women of Science podcast, we see Y.Y.’s true grit as she fights for recognition and a place at the science table
The First Lady of Engineering: Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 3, Episode 1
Yvonne Y. Clark, known as Y.Y. throughout her career, had a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements as a Black female mechanical engineer. The third season of the Lost Women of Science podcast begins at the start of her story, during her unconventional childhood in the segregated South
The Weather Myth: Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 2, Bonus Episode
When we first started researching Klára Dán von Neumann, we thought she was “the computer scientist you should thank for your smartphone’s weather app.” It turns out that’s not true
Lost Women of Science Podcast, Season 2, Episode 5: La Jolla
Klára Dán von Neumann encounters a new home, a new husband and a new project
Love Computers? Love History? Listen to This Podcast
In the newest season of Lost Women of Science, we enter a world of secrecy, computers and nuclear weapons—and see how Klára Dán von Neumann was a part of all of it.