ThinkHer

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...