ThinkHer

Through the work we’ve done in ThinkHer, a pattern begins to emerge: a woman’s insistence on shifting what’s accepted as normal. Whether it’s in how they studied, taught, moved through institutions, or lived outside them, these women didn’t just make space for themselves—they redefined what that space could be. Belle da Costa Greene , Mary Somerville , Kamala Sohonie , Rukhmabai Raut —their names resurface time and again, not only for what they achieved, but for how deliberately they lived.  For women, even the most groundbreaking titles rarely ensured entry into the spaces they truly sought. Yet, these women, in their own ways, managed to shape and carve out those very spaces. Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti (Laura Bassi), too, belongs in this line. Portrait of Laura Bassi by Carlo Vandi Laura Bassi’s career began at a time when the very idea of a woman engaging in scientific thought—let alone being recognized for it—was rare and often met with resistance. She was born in 1711 ...

I first heard about the University of Al-Qarawiyyin in a podcast about Morocco. They described Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 CE in the heart of Fez, as the oldest continually operating higher education institution in the world, recognized by UNESCO and the Guinness World Records. I was quite surprised to hear about this university, but even more astonishing was to learn about Fatima Al-Fihri, a woman of remarkable vision who used her inheritance to create a center of learning that would attract scholars for over a millennium. Her story left me in awe - a woman breaking societal norms over 1,200 years ago to establish such a legacy that still remains an extraordinary achievement.  I found myself eager to know more about Fatima Al-Fihri’s life, her motivations, and the enduring impact of her dedication to education. Al-Qarawiyyin and Fatima Al-Fihri, illustrative representations However, that was not an easy Google search, as details about her remain scarce and elusive. Much of what...

Who do you think was the first to be called a scientist? Albert Einstein? Issac Newton? Galileo Galilei or Nicolaus Copernicus? When we asked ChatGPT to generate an image of a scientist, it produced a depiction of a man wearing geeky glasses and a lab coat. The irony is, the term 'scientist' was first used to describe a woman, Mary Somerville in the year 1834. William Whemwell introduced the term 'Scientist' as a joke while reviewing the book 'On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences' written by Mary Somerville. It was her fourth book and one of the first books to be popular in the science genre. The reviewer, William Whemwell was marveled by its writing and described it to be 'Masterly'. Not so surprisingly, he couldn't get over the fact that a woman could write so fabulously about science. He writes, some women had even advanced so far in philosophy as to ‘ look with dry eyes upon oxygen and hydrogen, to hear with tranquil minds of perturbations a...