The Inventing HerStory podcast
Who actually invented the first computer program, discovered the first complete dinosaur fossil, and so much more!? She did! The Inventing Herstory podcast explores the lives of influential women scientists and inventors (who you’ve maybe never heard about) and their world-changing inventions and discoveries (which you DEFINITELY know about)! Join us as we learn all about HerStory.
Episodes
20 episodes
Inge Lehmann - Journey to the (Solid) Center of the Earth
Think of the layers of the Earth as an onion, a slice of cake, or better yet, a Ferrero Rocher; a chocolate with a wafer outer crust, a creamy filling and a solid hazelnut in the center. If this analogy is true, then Inge Lehmann is the Danish ...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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49:15
Marie Tharp - Drifters vs. Mobilists: The Discovery of Continental Drift
Have you ever looked at a world map and wondered HOW did the continents end up where they currently are, oceans apart? This week we’re diving deep—literally—into the life of Marie Tharp, the woman who mapped the ocean floor and turned the scien...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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47:38
Cecilia Payne - Shine Bright Like A-Type Stars
Did you know that the stars in the night sky are mostly made of hydrogen and helium? You can thank Cecilia Payne for that groundbreaking discovery! Despite her work initially being dismissed by male colleagues, Cecilia Payne’s genius unlocked t...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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46:12
Lizzie Magie - The Monopoly Drama
Did you know that Lizzie Magie is the true inventor of Monopoly? Well, technically, she invented and patented The Landlord's Game, a board game initially deemed "too complicated" to achieve widespread popularity. Despite this, her creation star...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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50:43
Maria E. Beasley - "Barrel-Loads" of Money (Wink, Wink!)
Earning both public recognition for her inventions and making "barrel-loads" of money (wink, wink!), Maria E. Beasley was an inventor extraordinaire. With 15 patents to her name and millions of dollars in income, she is best known for her barre...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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51:38
Eva Ekeblad - Popularizing the Potato
Eva Ekeblad, also known as the "potato pioneer", was (one of) the first female chemists in Sweden. She experimented with using potatoes in many cooking and household applications including making potato bread, potato starch, dying yarn using po...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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42:47
Jeanne Villepreux-Power - Dawning of the Age of "Aquariums"
Known as the "Mother of Aquariophily," Jeanne Villepreux-Power invented the aquarium, allowing for groundbreaking studies of marine life in their natural habitats. But how did this invention come about?! Discover her remarkable journey from a s...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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36:58
Judith Love Cohen - Fly Me To The Moon (And Back)
Not only the mother of a famous Hollywood star, Judith Love Cohen was working on stars....or at least as an electrical engineer working for a supplier to NASA! Among her greatest accomplishments, was her work on the Apollo abort guidance system...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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35:18
Maria Esperanza Martinez-Romero - Farming Using Bacteria, Not Fertilizers
Using bacteria to give nutrients to crops rather than fertilizers, Maria Esperanza Martinez-Romero is making big steps toward creating sustainable farming practices. Her discoveries on nitrogen fixation in plants by bacteria is currently being ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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47:00
Hedy Lamarr - More Than a Movie Star; An Inventor!
From her dazzling career as a Hollywood actress to her contributions to wireless communication, Hedy Lamarr's brilliance extended far beyond the silver screen. Her invention that used frequency hopping for a torpedo guidance system during World...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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43:03
Alice Hamilton - The Original Toxic Avenger
Ever wonder how those rules about safety, such as wearing lab coats and gloves, came to exist? We have Alice Hamilton to thank for our safety at work! Acting as a medical doctor as well as a champion for poor and immigrant workers, Alice Hamilt...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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48:33
Pratibha Gai - Seeing the Unseen: A Microscopic Marvel
During the nanoscale revolution, Dr. Dame Pratibha Gai not only studied chemical reactions at the nanoscale, but she co-invented the atomic resolution environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). This powerful microscope allows extrem...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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45:16
Zale Parry - Making a Splash, Scuba Style
In the underwater world of scuba diving, which is a profession still heavily dominated by men, Zale Parry made a splash in a big way in the 1950's. Not only was she one of the first female scuba diving instructors, with record-setting dep...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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50:43
Jeanne Baret - A Voyage of (Plant) Discovery
A little-known botanist who was also the first woman to circumnavigate the world, Jeanne Baret made a splash with her plant discoveries and her outlandish lifestyle. To be allowed on the French naval ship that planned a global expedition, Jeann...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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38:57
Chien-Shiung Wu - The Spin Doctor of Physics
Nicknamed the First Lady of Physics and the Chinese Madame Curie, Chien-Shiung Wu was THE world's top experimental physicist for decades. Most frequently recognized for her experiment concerning the conservation of parity (also called simply, t...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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37:53
Mary Anning - Rocking the Fossil World, One Dino at a Time
At the same time as the field of palaeontology was being invented, Mary Anning was knee deep in mud, uncovering new dinosaur fossils. Although she was scarcely credited by the Geological Society of London for her gigantic contributions to the f...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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49:11
Maria Montessori - Learning with A Twist
Have you heard of Montessori schools but never knew about Maria Montessori, the inventor behind the Montessori method? Then you aren't alone! Originally trained as a doctor, Maria made scandalous waves in Italian society in the early 1900s as a...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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44:04
Valerie L. Thomas - The Illusion Transmitter That’s No Trick
Holograms are not just part of science fiction, but they actually exist thanks to Valerie Thomas! As part of her work with NASA, Valerie invented the illusion transmitter with the use of concave mirrors. Originally used to visualize satellite d...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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31:07
Elsie Widdowson - Food For Thought
Instrumental in developing a rationing diet for British civilians during World War 2, Elsie Widdowson is a pioneer in the field of nutrition science. She used chemistry to study food nutritional content, vitamins and minerals in food, and what ...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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38:46
Ada Lovelace - From Poetic to Programmatic
Credited with writing the first computer program in 1843 (over 100 years before the first modern computers were even invented!) Ada Lovelace was a brilliant mathematician in Victorian era England. Although of noble birth and highly educated, he...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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34:12