Most of us learn about the Earth's shifting tectonic plates in middle school. But in Marie Tharp's time, this fact we now take for granted was a groundbreaking, radical concept—and one that had to overcome gender bias.In 1957, Tharp, a geologist and oceanographic cartographer, and her colleague Bruce Heezen published the first bathymetric map of the Atlantic Ocean. Tharp faced considerable challenges due to sexism. For one thing, women were not allowed on the ships that collected the seafloor data used to create the maps. So, Tharp spent hours at a desk translating thousands of sonar readings from ships that would not allow her aboard.Her hand-drawn maps eventually revealed that the seafloor was covered in canyons, ridges, and mountains, all of which suggested that at some point, pieces of the Earth had moved. See on Instagram This was important because the prevailing view at the time was that the ocean floor was flat and motionless. However, Tharp's findings supported Alfred Wegener's highly controversial continental drift theory, which proposed in 1912 that today's continents once fit together as a single supercontinent, known as Pangea.Of course, we now know Pangea to be real, but not long ago, the idea was considered heresy. When Tharp reintroduced it through her findings, Heezen dismissed it as "girl talk," or an "old wives' tale," depending on the account. Either way, the context is clear. - YouTube www.youtube.com Heezen would come around in time, but the duo still had to persuade the rest of the scientific community. At that point, the supposed peaks and valleys were only conjecture. However, in 1959, when Jacques Cousteau, determined to prove Tharp wrong, lowered his underwater camera with 16-millimeter film into the middle of the ocean and a valley appeared on the footage, it became clear that she was right.Though it was primarily Tharp's groundbreaking findings that paved the way for a new understanding of the seafloor, she was still viewed as "merely a technician." As a result, Heezen received the lion's share of the credit as they continued working together, eventually mapping all of the world's oceans. Tharp would not be allowed to set foot on a research ship until 1968.But proving her tenacity, Tharp was nevertheless able to make a life-changing scientific contribution in spite of it all, because she was resourceful and believed deeply in the importance of her work. As she herself said, "I had a blank canvas to fill with extraordinary possibilities, a fascinating jigsaw puzzle to piece together. It was a once-in-a-lifetime — a once-in-the-history-of-the-world-opportunity for anyone, but especially for a woman in the 1940s."In time, Tharp did receive recognition. In 1978, the National Geographic Society awarded Tharp and Heezen (posthumously) the highly prestigious Hubbard Medal. And, in 1997, the Library of Congress named her one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century. - YouTube www.youtube.com And, of course, every time we look at a map, we witness a bit of her signature. Still, one can't help but wonder about the other women from history who secretly shaped the way we view the world today, and the pains they took to do so.

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