ThinkHer

The first semester during my undergraduate years, there was a  “History of Physics” course. The syllabus was basically a list of scientists stretched from Aristotle to Einstein, a sweeping arc of minds that had shaped the discipline. The biographies we read were neatly arranged on a timeline of progress, their personal lives mostly stripped of social context. It was a history of achievements, not of people. These were tales of individual brilliance, where obstacles existed mainly to be overcome. And in this, I first recognized the pattern of what scholars now call the “superscientist” narrative: an individual—usually male—who triumphs over adversity to push the boundaries of knowledge. When women did appear, their stories followed the same arc but with a twist. Their struggle wasn’t against poverty or bad luck, but against patriarchy itself. Think of how we tell the stories of Marie Curie, Janaki Ammal, or Rosalind Franklin—as models of resilience, who not only conducted pathbreaki...

Some people change the world not with loud declarations or sweeping movements, but through quiet, persistent dedication to what they love. They follow their curiosity with discipline, shaping the future in ways that feel almost invisible—until history looks back and realizes the magnitude of their work. Maryam Mirzakhani was one such person. Through her deep engagement with mathematics, she transformed the field. In doing so, she broke multiple barriers: becoming the first woman, the first Iranian, and the first Muslim to win the Fields Medal, mathematics' highest honor. Her legacy lies not only in the concepts she explored, but in the glass ceilings she shattered by relentlessly following what she was curious about.  Maryam Mirzakhani  © Courtesy Stanford News Service Born in Tehran in 1977, Maryam Mirzakhani grew up during a turbulent period in Iran’s history, yet found solace in stories and books. As a child, she imagined herself becoming a writer, not a mathematician....

"Ishango bone discovered in East Africa is one of the earliest examples of a lunar calendar indicating men's need to record days and months to understand seasonal changes for agriculture." When we read the quote, do we feel like looking it up and checking if this is a fact? How about this: "Ishango bone discovered in East Africa is one of the earliest examples of a lunar calendar indicating women's needs to record days and months to understand the menstrual cycle and the possibility of pregnancy." Now all the factual enthusiasts, including us, are curious to know if this is, in fact, true. This has been a debate going on for years now. This debate, far from being a simple academic squabble, underscores a broader historical narrative: the overlooked contributions of women to early mathematics, calendars, and agriculture. An illustration of Ishango bone Ethno-mathematician Claudia Zaslavsky argued that the Ishango bone originated with women’s need for a lunar ...