Histórias cruzadas de mulheres nas ciências: descobertas e obstáculos em busca de novos elementos químicos da tabela periódica.

Abstract

The present work discusses the contributions of women scientists to the construction of the periodic table. It fills existing gaps in the History of Science concerning the visibility and recognition of their discoveries. The year 2019 was chosen by the United Nations - UN as the international year of the periodic table, coinciding with 150 years of the discovery of the periodicity of the elements by Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907). With this, periodicals dedicated themselves to publishing the history of the development of the periodic table. However, it is clear that many male scientists are cited as collaborators, but the contributions of women are little explored. According to the bibliographic survey, more than forty women scientists contributed to building the periodic table by discovering new elements and/or their properties. We will approach in this work the contributions of four scientists: Lise Meitner (1878-1968), Ida Noddack (1896-1978), Berta Karlik (1904- 1990), and Marguerite Perey (1909-1975). A collective biography based on the life history of these women, considering gender as a category of analysis, is intended to give visibility to their academic trajectories and contributions to the construction of the periodic table. Finally, through the crossed histories of these scientists, it was possible to identify and reflect on the various oppressions they suffered that consequently became obstacles throughout their careers, such as racial and gender discrimination, the Matilda effect, territorial, hierarchical, and institutional segregation.