a string physicist liza might know was crucially involved in the discovery of nuclear fusion but was not honored with a nobel prize. the same is true of british chemistry rosalind franklin who produced the first x. ray picture of the d.n.a. molecule vital for identifying its structure. since the introduction of the nobel prize is one hundred eighteen years ago only three percent of the awards for science have gone to women. and only one has gone to a german woman christiane in this line fall hard with a prize in physiology or medicine for her research. on the genetics of fruit flies . most recently twenty eight teams are counted as donna strickland become the first woman in fifty five years to secure the nobel prize in physics for her pioneering work on pulse lasers.