Chemistry has always been women’s business

[Paul Ferguson]

"During alchemical times (roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 18th century CE), women were very present as well. Some of these were mythical figures and goddesses such as Isis, who played an important symbolic role, endowed with healing powers and the ability to halt putrefaction.However, prominent figures (most notably Zosimos of Panopolis) also referred extensively to the contribution of women in developing techniques that had a lasting impact on the field. For example, during the Greco-Roman period, Mary the Jewess invented the kerotakis; a device designed to understand how vapours act on solids. Others include Paphnutia the Virgin, Theosebeia (to whom Zosimos’ writings are addressed, though nowadays it is unclear whether she actually existed; some say she was his sister) and Cleopatra (being one of the four women that knew how to make the philosopher’s stone, together with Mary the Jewess."

https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/c...78.article