When a discussion arises regarding each country’s contributions to advancement of the sciences, Scotland should never go unmentioned. This sentiment extends to discussions of the disproportion of women in the field when compared to men. This article will highlight a handful in order to embolden young females with a passion for the sciences.

Famous Scottish Female Scientists and Their Notable Contributions

• Charlotte Auerbach was a geneticist, among the first female scientists to realize the hazards of nuclear radiation and gained an RSE fellowship.
• Elizabeth Blackwell was an amateur botanist whose incredibly accurate floral sketches of the Chelsea Physic Garden are still a current resource.
• Victoria Drummond was Queen Victoria’s goddaughter and earned several accolades for her work as a marine engineer during World War II.
• Williamina Fleming was a Dundonian single mother who discovered the Horsehead Nebula while working at Harvard.
• Maria Gordon hailed from Monymusk and was the first woman to receive a PhD in geology from the German University of Munich.
• Muriel Robertson was a Glaswegian zoologist who learned to identify Clostridium infections in wounded soldiers during both World Wars.

Useful Resources

Discover the meaning and origin of other Scottish girls’ names on our website