International Women’s Day: 4 Women Who Changed the World
Written by Joséphine Coadou & Sophie Gholami
Delia Derbyshire: Symphony in BBC Minor
By Joséphine Coadou
Long kept in the shadows, Delia Derbyshire has nevertheless become one of the pioneers of modern electronic music. The craftswoman behind a now-iconic television theme and an tireless explorer of new sonic landscapes, she transformed everyday noises and magnetic tape into avant-garde works. Blending scientific rigor, artistic intuition, and a refusal to conform, her life tells the story of a woman who redefined what music could be in the twentieth century.
Maryam Mirzakhani: When Curiosity Meets Mathematical Genius
By Sophie Gholami
Despite representing a large share of university students worldwide, women remain underrepresented in mathematics. Persistent stereotypes still portray mathematical genius as rare and overwhelmingly male, discouraging many girls from pursuing the field.
To challenge these assumptions, we dedicate this article to Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win the Fields Medal, the highest distinction in mathematics. Her work transformed our understanding of geometric spaces and opened new paths in modern mathematical research.
Hedy Lamarr: The Drawbacks of Beauty
By Joséphine Coadou
For International Women’s Day, we decided to highlight female figures underestimated by posterity, which, without entirely ignoring them, has sometimes perpetuated an overly simplified portrait. And what better illustration than the life of Hedy Lamarr, who alone embodies the curse placed upon women: being seen first and foremost as a body, to the detriment of their intellect.
When Hedy Lamarr is mentioned, one primarily thinks of the Hollywood actress whose breathtaking beauty inspired the characters of Catwoman and Snow White… but one often forgets that the radio signal transmission method she developed revolutionized the history of communications. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS… does that ring a bell? Here is a story (quite literally) worthy of a Hollywood film.
Roger Arliner Young: When Science, Racism, and Sexism Collide
By Joséphine Coadou
Countless studies show that girls are less likely to pursue scientific studies, despite achieving better academic results than their male classmates. The persistence of everyday sexism is largely to blame, including the widespread belief that women are not “made for science”, which implicitly discourages girls from entering these fields.
To encourage future scientists, we have chosen to dedicate this article to Roger Arliner Young, the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in zoology, whose life story is as impressive as it is scandalous.
