Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics

People often ask - why aren't there more women physicists? There are two easy answers to this question. One is that institutions of higher learning and scientific laboratories and institutes denied women access in past centuries. For example Agnes Pockels, whose picture is at right, was denied a university education because she was female. Nevertheless she made original and important contributions to physics. But she was exceptional. In general there were very few women who could do physics before the 20^th century. When women breached barrier to higher education, however, they became major players in astronomy, mathematics, and physics. Many of these women are unknown even though their contributions are well known. From the beginning of the 20^th century, women have made original and important scientific discoveries often working unpaid and more often under-acknowledged. So the second answer to the question posed above is a repost - namely, there are more female physicists than most people know about!