And do I freely admit to being selective in this list by attempting to include as many fields, and unusual names, as possible. (there are so, so many more noteworthy Marias & Marys especially, as well as female physicians & astronomers!)
- Abella (medicine, 1300s)*
- Augusta Ada Lovelace (mathematics, d. 1852; constructed algorithms to be processed by a colleague's "analytical engine", and is thus considered the first computer programmer)
- Aglaonike/Aganice (astronomy, ≈200 BC; known for predicting lunar eclipses)
- Agnodice (medicine/midwifery, ≈400 BC)
- Anna Ǻkerhjelm (archaeology, d. 1693; posthumously ennobled for her work)
- Anna Atkins (botany, d. 1871; authored first photographically-illustrated book)
- Anna Morandi Manzolini (anatomy, d. 1774)
- Annie Jump Cannon (astronomy, d. 1941; co-created Harvard star classification system)
- Astrid Cleve (biology, d. 1968; her 5-volume encyclopedia on Swedish & Finnish diatoms is still in use today)
- Barbara McClintock (biology, d. 1992; only woman to receive an unshared Nobel prize in medicine, for her discovery of gene transposition)
- Beatrix Potter [yes, the children's author] (mycology, d. 1943; her drawings are still used in fungus identification today)
- Caroline Herschel (astronomy, d. 1848; discoverer of several objects, including 8 comets and 14 nebulae)
- Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (astrophysics, d. 1979; determined stellar compositions by their spectra)
- Celia Grillo Boromeo (mathematics, d. 1777; said to be able to solve any mathematical problem given to her)
- Constance Calenda (optometry, 1400s)
- Dorothea Erlexben (medicine, d, 1762; first female doctor in Germany)
- Elena Cornaro Piscopia (philosophy/mathematics, d. 1684; first woman to earn a Ph.D.)
- Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell (medicine, d. 1910; first and second female doctors in the US)
- Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (medicine, d. 1917; several firsts, including first female doctor in the UK)
- Elsa Beata Bunge (botany, d. 1819)
- Ellen Swallow Richards (chemistry, d. 1911; co-founded the American Association of University Women)
- Émilie du Châtelet (physics, d. 1749; her translation/commentary of Newton's Principia Mathematica is still the French standard)
- Emily Warren Roebling (engineering, d. 1903; oversaw construction & completion of the Brooklyn Bridge after the original project leader fell ill)
- Amelie Emmy Noether (mathematics, d. 1935; a subset of algebraic structures is named for her)
- Enheduanna (astronomy/mathematics, ≈2250 BC)
- Etheldred Benett (geology, d. 1845)
- Eva Ekeblad (agronomy, d. 1786; discovered new uses for potatoes, including makeup/powder, flour, and alcohol)
- Faustina Pignatelli (physics/mathematics, d. 1785)
- Florence Bascom (geology, d. 1945; first woman to work for the USGS)
- Gerty Theresa Cori (biochemistry, d. 1957; first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine)
- Saint Hildegard (botany/medicine, d. 1179)
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt (astronomy/mathematics, d. 1921; discovered Leavitt's Law, which allows accurate estimation of the distance of variable stars)
- Phoebe Sarah "Hertha" Ayrton (engineering/physics, d. 1923; first female elected member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers)
- Hypatia of Alexandria (mathematics, d. 415)
- Ida Noddack (chemistry/physics, d. 1978; first proposed/predicted the concept of nuclear fission)
- Inge Lehmann (geophysics/seismology, d. 1994; proposed the current layered-core model of the earth's interior)
- Irène Joliot-Curie (chemistry, d. 1956)
- Isala Van Diest (medicine, d. 1916; first female doctor in Belgium)
- Jane Colden (botany, d. 1766)
- Jane Sharp (midwifery, 1600s; her book is still in print today)
- Jeanne Villepreux-Power (marine biology, d. 1871; first to use aquariums to study marine life)
- Johanna Mestorf (archaeology, d. 1909)
- Katherine Blodgett (physics, d. 1979)
- Katherine Johnson (mathematics; calculated NASA trajectories pre-computer)
- Kirstine Meyer (physics, d. 1931; founded the Danish journal of physics, Fysisk Tidsskrift)
- Laura Bassi (physics, d. 1778)
- Lise Meitner (physics, d. 1964; offered a position on the Manhattan Project, which she refused on moral grounds)
- Maria Lovisa Ǻhrborg (medicine, d. 1881; first female doctor in Sweden)
- Margaret Cavendish (natural philosophy, d. 1673)
- Margaret Eliza Maltby (physics, d. 1944)
- Maria/Mary the Jewess (alchemy/chemistry, ≈200 AD; invented several types of chemical apparatus)
- Maria Dalle Donne (medicine, d. 1842; first woman to earn a doctorate of medicine)
- Maria Gaetana Agnesi (mathematics, d. 1799)
- Maria Sibylla Merian (botany/entomology, d. 1717)
- Maria Mitchell (astronomy, d. 1889)
- Maria Telkes (physics, d. 1995; inventor of many solar & thermal devices, including a thermoelectric generator and a portable solar-powered desalinization unit)
- Marie Crous (mathematics, 1600s; introduced France to decimal system)
- Marie Curie (chemistry/physics, d. 1934; first person to get Nobel Prizes in two subjects)
- Mary Agnes Chase (botany, d. 1963)
- Mary Anning (paleontology, d. 1847)
- Mary Engle Pennington (bacteriology/engineering, d. 1952; first head of the USDA's Food Research Lab)
- Maud Menten (biochemistry, d. 1960)
- Merit-Ptah (medicine, ≈2700 BC, the earliest recorded female scientist)
- Mercuriade (medicine, 1300s)
- Nettie Stevens (genetics, d. 1912; co-discovered XY sex determination)
- Nicole-Reine Lepaute (astronomy/mathematics, d. 1788)
- Praskovya Uvarova (archaeology, d. 1924)
- Rebecca de Guarna (medicine, 1300s)
- Rosalind Franklin (biophysicist, d. 1958; helped discover the DNA double helix, her work was used by Watson and Crick)
- Sofia Kovalevskaya (mathematics, d. 1891; first woman to earn a doctorate of mathematics)
- Sophia Brahe (horticulture/astronomy, d. 1643)
- Marie-Sophie Germain (mathematics, d. 1831)
- Trotula of Salerno (gynecology, 1000s)
- Williamina Fleming (astronomy. d. 1911; discovered many objects, including 59 nebulae, 10 novae, and over 300 variable stars)
- Wang Zhenyi (astronomy, d. 1797)
- Zelia Nuttall (archaeology, d. 1933)
*If I've not listed any accomplishments, the specifics either have been lost to time, or are too complex to fit in a concise note.
Thanks to a few anonymous messages, adding some amazing women I'd initially missed!
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