What a beautiful story and what beautiful pictures! I have heard of Beatrix Potter as an author, but did not know she was also a scientist.

I would also love to add Ada Lovelace to this list. Additionally, Hedy Lamarr, known primarily as an MGM actress, also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication.

I had a recent visit with my mother, who is a science teacher, and she loved the idea of this series. She also reminded me that Mary Leakey, Dian Fossey, and Jane Goodall are well-known women scientists.

I would add Olga Ladyzhenskaya and Mary Somerville.

The importance of recognizing the accomplishments of women physical scientists and engineers is that as a bastion of male dominance at the top of the intellectual pecking order, the lack of recognized accomplishments of women is often taken as evidence that we, as a class, are lesser humans and not capable of contributing at the highest levels.

A girl child is consequently devalued at every level of resource allocation and education, and our "incapacity" for anything other than bearing children and fetching water for men becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.