We might be aware of certain renowned male inventors who created history and changed the lives of the masses. However, we sometimes forget about the female inventors who, with their brilliant minds and innovative ideas, have shaped the world and marked their name in the books of history.
Here are a few prominent female inventors who deserve to have their names stay with us forever, along with their remarkable endeavors to advance technology and our everyday lives.
- Marie Curie
One of the greatest Scientific minds of all time, Marie Curie also known as Madam Curie was the inventor of radioactive elements, Radium and Polonium, forming a huge contribution towards prostate cancer treatment.
Marie Curie becomes the first person to receive not just one but two Noble Prize – Physics and Chemistry. After the sudden demise of her husband – Pierre Curie, she also became the first woman in the faculty of science to hold the position of general physics.
- Stephanie Kwolek
The strongest and lightweight Fiber (Kevlar) that has contributed to saving immeasurable lives was invented by Stephanie Kwolek, an American chemist, and a pioneer for researching ultrastrong and ultrathick materials that are used today in bulletproof vests and tires.
Discovering the alternative for steel car tires, she made history while working with a liquid crystal and created a durable yet lightweight fiber, realizing that the fibers used in the substance were comparatively five times stronger than that of steel.
- Hery Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was the brains behind Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth that are used today by millions and hesitate in spending a day without using inventive technology.
Dr. Nyeck once quoted a comment for Mary Anderson – “A powerful lady who is sexy, but smart… is really scary for most guys, you just expose how weak we are.”
During world war II, when the U.S was facing threats from its axis power – composer George Antheil and Hedy developed a radio guidance system using the technology of frequency-hopping spread spectrum to safeguard their allied torpedoes from the Nazis.
- Melitta Bentz
The inventor of Filter Coffee – Melitta Bentz was a German housewife who updated the traditional method of brewing with multiple failed attempts until when she suddenly found this fantastic method of filtering the coffee. All she used was blotting paper, punched some holes in an old tin pot, and adding some ground coffee along with hot water, the result was what we are enjoying every morning.
- Marie Van Brittan Brown
Facing a security risk in her neighborhood where the crime rate was quite high – Marie Brown along with her husband Albert Brown invented the first home security system. Being a nurse, her working hours were not 9-to-5, and therefore to be safe amidst the increasing crime rate in night hours, she created the personal security device to keep an eye on her home with the two-way communication and surveillance features.
The innovation was comprised of a camera, peephole, monitor, and microphone to establish the two-way connection; an alarm button was also implemented into it that could immediately contact the nearest police when in need. Her discovery was patented in 1966 and has influenced diverse modern security systems for home and corporate spaces.
- Ayla Hutchinson
Started as a school science project – Ayla Hutchinson at the age of 13 invented the kindling cracker when one day her mother accidentally cut her finger while splitting the kindling. That was the day she realized that she had to come up with a safer and easy-to-use tool to cut kindling, making it a science project.
After receiving a positive response for the cast-iron device and collaborating further with her father to establish a company – she made a huge difference by selling thousands of kindling crackers across New Zealand and thereafter building a distribution agreement with US companies, she marked her name at the age of 17 across the globe.