ThinkHer

In the early 20th century, one of biology’s biggest mysteries was: What determines whether an organism is male or female? For centuries, this question wasn’t just scientific; it was deeply social. Across cultures, the sex of a child was often seen as the responsibility of the mother, with women praised or blamed for what was, in truth, beyond their control. At a time when answers were still speculative, a quiet yet determined scientist looked deep into the microscopic world for clarity and found it.   Nettie Stevens   did not just contribute to genetics; she helped dismantle a long-standing misconception. Nettie Stevens Born in 1861 in Vermont, Nettie Stevens grew up in a time when opportunities for women were limited. Though she showed early academic promise, her path into research was delayed not by lack of ability, but by circumstance. For years, she worked as a schoolteacher, saving money and supporting herself. Many would have accepted that as the final destination. But S...

How do you write the biography of someone who lived only 28 years? Not long enough, in conventional terms, to gather disciples, build institutions, or leave behind a lineage that carries their name forward. The usual markers of legacy feel inadequate. And yet, some lives resist that arithmetic. They do not stretch across decades but deepen within them, compressing intensity, curiosity, and conviction into a brief span of time. The question shifts from duration to depth. How deeply did they touch the world? J. Vijaya ’s life demands that question. J. Vijaya, PC@ Sactuary Nature Foundation Much of what we know about her comes through the recollections of those who worked alongside her. They remember her as someone who did not inherit a discipline, but helped shape one. At a time when herpetology (a branch of zoology that studies reptiles and amphibians) in India was still emerging, and when it was rare for a woman to enter such a field, Vijaya stepped in with quiet certainty. As a st...

For centuries, knowledge was not simply discovered; it was guarded. Universities, academies, and scientific societies were not neutral spaces. They were shaped by hierarchies of gender, race, caste, class, and religion, and access to lectures, mentorship, correspondence networks, and degrees was restricted accordingly. Exclusion was not incidental; it was built into the structure of institutions. Yet those kept outside were never absent from intellectual life. When institutions closed ranks, parallel practices of learning emerged. For women like Mary Jackson, Ynes Mexia, Laura Bassi, and many others, formal pathways were denied, so informal ones were cultivated. Exclusion shaped the conditions of their work; it did not stop it. Sophie Germain belongs to that lineage of persistence. Born in Paris in 1776, she came of age during the French Revolution. It was a time that promised liberty, but society still withheld education from women. Mathematics seized her imaginatio...

  As a child, space didn’t feel like science — it felt like magic. Thousands of stars, distant galaxies, mysterious black holes, supernovas, planets, and moons — everything seemed like an imaginative fantasy world. And it wasn’t just space itself. The precisely manoeuvred satellites orbiting Earth, astronauts floating inside space stations, the bulky space suits — all of it was endlessly fascinating. But now, what fascinates me even more is the kind of person it takes to survive there. Individuals whose journeys are built on discipline, resilience, and a deep curiosity about the universe. One such extraordinary figure is Sunita Williams, a record-breaking astronaut, naval officer, engineer, and an inspiration to millions. Sunita Williams  ©NASA Sunita Lyn Williams was born on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, USA. Her father, Dr. Deepak Pandya, was originally from Gujarat, India, and her mother, Bonnie Pandya, is of Slovenian descent. Growing up in a multicultural household...

The modern world celebrates innovation as a universal triumph, yet it is often designed with an unspoken assumption: that its users are able-bodied, sighted, mobile, and neurologically typical. People with disabilities frequently encounter environments, technologies, and institutions that do not account for their needs. As a result, they are not only forced to adapt to systems never built for them, but are often compelled to invent solutions to survive, study, work, and live independently. When Louis Braille lost his sight as a child in 19th-century France, existing reading systems for blind people were slow, impractical, and designed without true user insight. Rather than accept intellectual dependence, Braille developed a tactile writing system that allowed blind readers to access language quickly, independently, and efficiently. His invention did more than improve literacy—it reshaped education, autonomy, and cultural participation for blind communities worldwide. Many breakthroughs...

In the decades following independence, science was a necessity for nation-building. It was seen as a strategic tool—science for defence, to secure sovereignty in a fragile geopolitical landscape; science for progress, to modernise agriculture, industry, and infrastructure; science for social well-being, to combat disease, hunger, and poverty; and science for economic growth, to reduce dependence on imports and build indigenous capability. But, at the same time, science was still nascent. The Department of Science and Technology under the Government was yet to come, and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) was in the formative stage. Laboratories were few, resources were scarce, and institutional support for scientific inquiry was limited.  Science also occupied a complicated moral and political space. It was expected to be modern yet rooted, universal yet national, progressive yet attentive to indigenous traditions. Scientists stood at the intersection of...