Deborah Jaffé
Ingenious Women

Amye Everard Ball was the first woman to be granted an English patent in 1637; since then hundreds have been awarded to women but rarely cited. Referring to themselves as housewives, widows, inventors, scientists, nurses, electricians, and engineers, their patents were wide-ranging and included: machinery, dishwashers, lifesaving equipment, safety devices, underwear, stab-proof vests, and the teaching of geometry. These overlooked women navigated legislation and social assumptions of their times to ensure their inventions were registered as their own, playing important roles in scientific and technological development and innovation.