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Breakthrough science requires pioneers, people who combine brilliance with courage, even in the face of daunting opposition. The women who paved the way for modern scientific exploration exemplify this spirit, grappling not only with fundamental questions of the universe, but with discrimination and societal constraints that often stripped them of scientific credit.
One of these is physicist Chien-Shiung Wu. Known as the First Lady of Physics, Wu worked on the Manhattan Project and helped disprove a widely-accepted law of theoretical physics. Later in her life, Wu researched molecular changes in hemoglobin associated with sickle-cell anemia.Image credit: Smithsonian Institution Archives, image SIA2010-1507
