Best Female Scientists In Film And TV
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It’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science and we’re taking a look at some of the best female scientists in film and TV. So, grab some popcorn and get cosy with some of the best ladies out there…
Abby Yates and Dr. Erin Gilbert - Ghostbusters (2016)
This 2016 version of an ‘80s classic saw a team of ladies get together to take on ghosts and throw some science in the mix too! Abby (played by Melissa McCarthy) is a paranormal fanatic, who once co-wrote a book of research attempting to prove that ghosts are real. She’s a former professor at the Kenneth P. Higgins Science Institute, is an expert in particle physics and has a degree in parapsychology. When the Institute cuts her funding, it’s time to set up her own team….the Ghostbusters. She’s joined by Dr. Erin Gilbert - although not happily at first. Erin is Abby’s old college friend, who finds out that Abby is still selling the book they wrote together - much to Erin’s embarrassment. Although at the time, she believed in ghosts she has since ‘grown out of it’. When we first meet Erin, she’s an assistant particle physics professor at Columbia University, but her bid for tenure quickly gets rejected. After teaming up with Abby her belief in the supernatural returns and they spend their days busting ghosts and saving New York City!
Go Go Tomago – Big Hero 6
Go Go Tomago is one of the main characters, and team members of the superhero team Big Hero 6. She has a passion for speed and vehicular applications and is a student at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology where she studies Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design. She is really determined, strong and extreme - using her knowledge of mechanical engineering and electromagnetism to create a speed suit that helps her go faster than anyone else possibly could….and use mag-lev discs, which help her tear through hard objects as if they were butter. Phew! Go Go helps the rest of Big Hero 6 fight off microbots, evil villains, and more…she’s definitely someone you want on your team!
Violet Baudelaire - A Series of Unfortunate Events
Violet is the oldest of the three orphaned Baudelaire children. She’s intelligent, polite, kind-hearted and resourceful…but most importantly, a budding engineer and inventor, who uses problem solving to help her in difficult situations. Which, considering she’s living through a so-called series of unfortunate events, happens quite a lot more than you’d think! As a very young child, Violet liked to visit the Verne Invention Museum, and the exhibitions there inspired her to be an inventor. When she turned five, she won her first invention contest with an automatic rolling pin, which she made using a window shade and six pairs of roller skates! Over the course of many unfortunate events, we see Violet invent a signalling device, a reptile retriever, a baby booster, a lucky lock pick, a smasher, a lobber, a lever yanker, a brilliant bopper…and so much more!
Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan - Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine, Mary and Dorothy, real life NASA mathematicians during the Space Race in 1961. The women - who were hired as ‘human computers’ (literally people who did complex maths problems) were invaluable in their contribution to sending people into space and played a pivotal role in some of NASA’s biggest achievements, such as America’s first human spaceflight and sending astronaut John Glenn around Earth. But, it’s 1961, in Virginia, USA, which means that segregation between white and Black people is still a thing. So the women work in the ‘coloured only’ section and face blatant acts of sexism and racism at work every day. But their determination for a better, more explored life - both on ground and in space! - keeps them going. Katherine, the only Black woman in a team of white men helps map the exact path Freedom 7 would need to take from liftoff to splashdown; Mary petitions in court to take graduate courses at the segregated high school, making her NASA’s first Black female engineer; and Dorothy figures out programming for a computer system to work and trains an entire team of women to operate the machine too, becoming NASA’s first Black female supervisor!
Sandy Cheeks - Spongebob Squarepants
Bikini Bottom wouldn’t be the same with Sandy Cheeks - a multi-talented scientist and inventor who came to study sea creatures and their lifestyles. She does experiments and creates new inventions on the regular, and has made everything from a teleporter to a spaceship to a microscopic submarine to a cloning device. She also loves extreme sports, karate, and other vigorous activities that generally challenge stereotypes and makes a good example for any young person watching!
Who are your favourite female scientists in film and TV? Let us know over at @NCS!
