Vandana Shiva

Notwithstanding her remote beginnings in the Himalayan forest region of India, Vandana Shiva has become one of the youngest female scientists in the world to receive as much global recognition and prominence in such a short time. Shiva is as well-known as an environmentalist and feminist as she is a physicist. She has taken up many global causes against social injustices and environmental destruction, for which she has received numerous awards. In 1994, Shiva was honored as one of five women sharing the internationally-prestigious $2 million Right Livelihood Award, considered an alternative Nobel Prize for peaceful environmental and social activism. A prolific author, Shiva's published works promote environmental conservation and biodiversity in tropical forests, especially in her native India.

Born...