The moniker “boys’ physics” (Knabenphysik) originally emphasized the youthfulness of the early quantum physics protagonists. Its gender connotation long remained unchallenged. This panel brings to light the remarkable yet long-overlooked contributions of women to the development of quantum physics.

The Women in the History of Quantum Physics (WiHQP) collaboration was founded in early 2021, in preparation for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. We are an international team of historians, scientists, writers, and philosophers of science working to reconstruct and analyze the lives and contributions of dozens of women, including those who worked during the early days of the old quantum theory and later contributors to quantum field theory.

In celebration of the 2025 centennial of quantum mechanics, this panel will present a subset of narratives from our forthcoming anthology, Women in the History of Quantum Physics: Beyond Knabenphysik, (currently in press with Cambridge University Press). We aim to share the richness and diversity of scientific life that has grown from researching the quantum.

The speakers for the event in Göttingen are:

-Margriet van der Heyden: Women in the History of Quantum Physics

-Patrick Charbonneau: Molecular WiHQP Vignettes: Hertha Sponer and Elizabeth Monroe

-Andrea Reichenberger: Grete Hermann: A pioneer of the philosophical debate about the foundations of quantum mechanics and a political activist

The program will go online here on February 5.