Newtown Historical Society hosted “Put Yourself Back in the Narrative — The Past, Present, and Future of Women in Science” at C.H Booth Library on March 16.

Guest speaker Cyd Cipolla, clinical associate professor of media, culture, and communication at NYU’s Steinhardt School, presented the Sunday afternoon lecture.

Dr Cipolla’s talk explored the under-representation of women in STEM fields as an introduction to some of the major ideas in feminist studies of science. Her program covered the women of science, from the past; why there are so few in the field now, how that challenge can be fixed, whether gender matters in science, and how to address the gender politics of science to create better scientific knowledge.

One standout part of the conversation was the role of Grace Hopper in the development of computer programming. Hopper was a pioneer who developed the “COBOL” language and was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. She earned a PhD in both mathematics and mathematical physics from Yale University and was a professor of mathematics at Vassar College.

She was 34 when the United States entered World War II, and she tried to enlist in the Navy. She was initially rejected due to her small stature, being underweight, and being too old. However, she obtained a waiver and special government permission and eventually retired as a rear admiral.

Known by her subordinates as “Amazing Grace,” Hopper posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2016, in recognition of her “lifelong leadership role in the field of computer science,” according to Cipolla’s presentation.

Barbara McClintock — who discovered gene transposition and was the first woman to win the National Medal of Science, the first person to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, and the first woman to win a sole Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — and Rosalind Franklin, who took the first image that showed DNA could form a helix, were also among the fascinating women Cipolla introduced during her compelling program.