Page 45 - San Diego Woman Amy Haber Issue

6. Marie Curie
(1857-1934)

“Nothing in life is to be
feared, it is only to be
understood. Now is the
time to understand more,
so that we may fear less.” 9. Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000)
Often called “The Most Beautiful Woman in
Polish-born Marie Curie was a fearless physicist and scien- Film” Ms. Lamarr was more than just a pretty face.
tist, who coined the term radioactivity, discovered two new ele- While her screen presence made her one of the
ments-radium and polonium, and developed the first portable most popular actresses of her day, she was also an
x-ray machine. Ms. Curie became the first person to win two sep- inventor with a sharp mind. She teamed up with
arate Noble Prizes-one for physics and another for chemistry. Ms. avant-garde composer George Anthiel, Lamarr
Curie is still the only person, man or woman, to receive Noble priz- developed a new method of “frequency hopping”,
es for two different sciences. She faced constant discrimination a technique for disguising radio transmissions by
throughout her entire career in the male-dominated field of sci- making the signal jump between different chan-
ence and physics. Despite this her influence in the world of science nels in a prearranged pattern. Their Secret Com-
is still relevant today. munication System was created to combat the
Nazis during the second World War. However, the
US Navy chose to ignore their findings. It wasn’t
until years later that other inventor realized how
7. Margaret Thatcher groundbreaking the work was. If you use a smart-
phone, you can thank Ms. Lamarr-her communica-
(1925-2013) tion system was the precursor to wireless technol-
“It is mankind and his activities which are ogy including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
changing the environment of our planet
in damaging and dangerous….”
And closing out my top 10 most powerful woman in
Margaret Thatcher was a British pol-
itician who was the first woman Prime history is my personal favorite an author that changed my
Minister of the United Kingdom from life when I read Atlas Shrugged for the first time. I try and
1979-1990. She was also the leader of the read it every 10 years and each decade brings new revela-
tions.
Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.
She was nicknamed the Iron Lady for her
strong leadership style and her uncom-
promising politics. Mrs. Thatcher was also
known for the destruction of Britain’s tra-
ditional industries, and the privatization of
public transport and social housing.
10. Ayn Rand
(1905-1982)
“Learn to value yourself,
which means: fight for
8. Rosie the Riveter your happiness.”
Rosie the Riveter was the star of a
campaign aimed at recruiting female Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name Ayn Rand,
workers for defense industries during was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known
World War II, and she became perhaps for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she
the most iconic image of working named Objectivism. "Objectivism", describing its essence as
women. American women entered the "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness
workforce in unprecedented numbers as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement
during the war, as widespread male as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute". Sounds
enlistment left gaping holes in the in- really heady I know but broken down to terms that may be a
dustrial labor force. Between 1940 and little easier, you are responsible for your own happiness, no one
1945, the female percentage of the U.S. else. It really is that simple. I could go on about Ms. Rand and
workforce increased from 27 percent to her philosophy, but I think it will suffice to say read her own
nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly words. I hope they speak to you the way they speak to me every
one out of every four married women time I read them. I will leave you with this illusive question,
worked outside the home. The image WHO IS JOHN GALT?
is still recognized today, and it has
reached cult status.
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