Do women make bad scientists?
If I ask you to name a woman scientist, I’m willing to bet you’ll answer Marie Curie. Very well, then! Now, name a second woman scientist. How’s that? Not easy, is it? Why can’t we think of another outstanding female researcher? I wouldn’t go so far as to ask for a double “Nobelist”, because… there aren’t any! Marie Curie is the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. In comparison, three men have received this double award: Linus Pauling, John Bardeen and Frederick Sanger.
This under-representation of women is not an exception. It is the norm.
In the history of the Nobel Prizes, 51 women have been awarded… for 842 men.
How many women are there in the Panthéon in Paris, the building that houses the great personalities who have marked France’s history? There are five – Simone Veil, Marie Curie (her again! Could she be the only good female scientist we know?!), Sophie Berthelot, Germaine Tillion, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz – for a total of 81 people.
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