Vox Meditantis

Maud Menten (1879–1960) co-developed the groundbreaking Michaelis-Menten equation, foundational in enzyme kinetics and modern pharmacology. Despite equal contributions, her achievements were overshadowed by gender bias. She also pioneered histochemical dye methods for medical diagnostics. Overcoming institutional barriers, Menten’s legacy endures through lectures, honours, and the lasting impact of her work.

Danish physicist Lene Hau achieved the seemingly impossible by slowing light to 17 metres per second and later stopping it completely in 2001. Working with Bose-Einstein condensates at Harvard, she revolutionised quantum physics and opened new pathways for quantum computing and secure communications, yet remains largely unknown outside scientific circles.

Mileva Marić, a Serbian physicist and mathematician, was one of the first women to study theoretical physics at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic. Despite matching Einstein’s academic performance and collaborating on early relativity theory, her contributions were systematically erased from history following their divorce, exemplifying the widespread exclusion of women from…

Aphra Behn shattered male monopoly on science. Her bold English translation of Fontenelle’s cosmic dialogue and satire Emperor of the Moon slipped heliocentrism into coffee-houses and kitchens, teaching women and workers alike. Yet critics shelved her as merely a playwright, eclipsing a pioneer of public, democratic astronomy for three centuries.