Joan Clarke’s ingenious work as a codebreaker during WW2 saved countless lives, and her talents were formidable enough to command the respect of some of the greatest minds of the 20th Century, despite the sexism of the time.

This piece originally appeared on the Huffington Post

This profile originally appears on Finding Ada. By Sydney Padua, author of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first female doctor to qualify in England. She opened a school of medicine for women, and paved the way for women’s medical education in Britain. Partly as a result of her open campaigning, an act of Parliament was passed in 1876 permitting women to enter the medical profession.

Mary Anning was a self-educated, working class woman from Lyme Regis and her contribution to geological science had a major impact at a time when there was little to challenge the biblical interpretation of the story of creation and of the flood. The spectacular marine reptiles that Mary unearthed shook the scientific community into looking at different explanations for changes in the natural world.

Emily Warren Roebling was, and still is, considered to be the person who was in charge of the day to day construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.