These women have changed the world with science...Too bad a man was given all the credit...

[Xipe Totec]

5. Regarding Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Dame (Susan) Jocelyn Bell Burnell, as a postgraduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars while under her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish, for which Hewish shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Martin Ryle, while Bell Burnell was left out despite having observed the pulsars. Bell Burnell was President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2002 to 2004, president of the Institute of Physics from October 2008 until October 2010, and was interim president following the death of her successor, Marshall Stoneham, in early 2011.

The paper announcing the discovery of pulsars had five authors. Hewish's name was listed first, Bell's second. Hewish was awarded the Nobel Prize, along with Martin Ryle, without the inclusion of Bell as a co-recipient. Many prominent astronomers expressed outrage at this omission, including Sir Fred Hoyle. Hoyle harshly criticized the Nobel committee, going so far as to accuse Hewish of stealing Bell's data. (Ironically, as some would later conjecture, it was this public outburst that would later cause Hoyle to be excluded from the 1983 Prize).

However, Bell has also been hesitant to express indignation at the omission. In an after-dinner speech made in 1977, she had the following to say on the matter:

There are several comments that I would like to make on this: First, demarcation disputes between supervisor and student are always difficult, probably impossible to resolve. Secondly, it is the supervisor who has the final responsibility for the success or failure of the project. We hear of cases where a supervisor blames his student for a failure, but we know that it is largely the fault of the supervisor. It seems only fair to me that he should benefit from the successes, too. Thirdly, I believe it would demean Nobel Prizes if they were awarded to research students, except in very exceptional cases, and I do not believe this is one of them. Finally, I am not myself upset about it -- after all, I am in good company, am I not!

Although she didn't share the 1974 Nobel Prize for Physics with Hewish for her discovery, she has been honoured by many other organisations:

The Albert A. Michelson Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia (1973, jointly with Dr. Hewish).
J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize from the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami (1978).
Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize of the American Astronomical Society (1987).
Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1989).
Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory(1995).
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Astronomy (1999)
Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society (2000).
Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) (March 2003).
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Astronomy (2007)
The Grote Reber Medal at the General Assembly of the International Radio Science Union in Istanbul (19 August 2011)

She has also been awarded numerous honorary degrees, including:

Doctor of Science: Heriot-Watt University (1993), University of Warwick (1995), University of Newcastle (1995), University of Cambridge (1996), University of Glasgow (1997), University of Sussex (1997), University of St Andrews (1999), University of London (1999), Haverford College (2000), University of Leeds (2000), Williams College (2000), University of Portsmouth (2002), Queen's University, Belfast (2002), University of Edinburgh (2003), University of Keele (2005), Harvard University (2007), Durham University (2007), University of Michigan (2008), University of Southampton (2008), Trinity College, Dublin (2008).

Doctor of the University: University of York (1994).

Hardly an obscure figure in scientific circles.

Many fellow scientist came to her defense and recognized her brilliant contributions. Even those who were handicapped with testicles and a penis.

(ETA) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Bell_Burnell