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One of the ways that people can get involved in Ada Lovelace day is be blogging about women in tech - I blogged in 2009 and 2010 but - to my shame - I didn't in 2011.

So, here is a double post in penance :-)

Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847)

First up, Mary Anning. I was in the British Museum yeasterday, they have a wonderful collection of fossils. The most impressive of which were discovered and reconstructed by Marry Anning in the early 19th century.

In a sense, she was the driving force behind fossil hunting. She helped change the way we think about history, evolution, extinction, dinosaurs, and life.

She is celebrated in museums, and in Tracey Chevalier's marvellous fictionalised account of her life Remarkable Creatures.

Mary risked her life hunting fossils - for her it was as much about business as it was science - but her hard work and dedication paid off and she is rightly credited as having discovered several new species of dinosaur, including the plesiosaurs.

Despite her tremendous discoveries and contributions to the science, she was barred from many prestigious scientific societies - although they were happy to use her work.

Vi Hart

I only discovered the works of Vi Hart last week. She self describes as a "Mathemusician". She has an amazingly friendly and accessible way of describing maths - as this video shows

Even though I'm unlikely to have to take my GCSE in maths again any time soon - watching her videos has really helped me understand some of the everyday maths that I use.

Check out Vi's website, Twitter Feed, and her YouTube channel

Finally, watching these videos on hexaflexagons. They will BLOW YOUR MIND!

... an international day of blogging to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science.

Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines, whatever they do

Last year I blogged about Delia Derbyshire and Helen Keegan.

This year, it's...

Rachel Armstrong

I first met Rachel at BarCampAfrica UK. I thought she was barking mad. She was demonstrating how "smart salad dressing" could re-float Venice. How proto-cells could move, communicate, change and be harnessed for our use.

After watching her speak, I was a true believer.

She's a TED fellow and one of the founders of the Future Venice project.

To quote from her bio

Rachel is a medical doctor with qualifications in general practice, a multi-media producer, SF author and arts collaborator whose current research explores the possibilities of architectural design to create positive practices and mythologies about new technology.

Yes, that's right - she writes Sci Fi!

Buy The Gray's Anatomy at Amazon

You can find a fairly comprehensive list of her works at the UCL website.

There's no doubt that she's lived a remarkable life and is destined for great things.

Follow Rachel on Twitter and watch her change the world.

Oh, and if you're looking out for her, she looks a little something like this...

Rachel Armstrong