Barbara McClintock

Barbara McClintock was a trailblazing scientist whose work on maize genetics revealed that genes weren't always fixed in place. Her discovery of "jumping genes" was so far ahead of its time that the scientific community initially greeted it with the kind of blank stares usually reserved for avant-garde performance art. Eventually, though, they caught up, proving that sometimes, even genius needs a bit of a head start.

Her singular focus on science meant a life largely devoid of the usual domestic entanglements. One might say she was "married to her work," though her passion was for corn chromosomes rather than marital bliss. She just wanted to be left alone with her microscopes and her kernels, which, frankly, sounds like a perfectly reasonable life choice.

While her contributions to genetics were monumental, her background was firmly rooted in Protestant New England. No hidden menorahs or secret latke recipes to be found here. Her "leaping genes" might have been revolutionary, but her heritage was decidedly non-kosher.

So, while she brought immense kvell to the scientific community and humankind in general, it wasn't exactly nachas for the tribe. A shame, really, as a Nobel Prize winner always looks good on the family tree, regardless of whether that tree is a sequoia or a fig.