I am struck by how many of those remarkable women died from disease like cancer, and at a young age. I think that the sexist oppression may have contributed to that.

Over the last few centuries the Eurocentric idea that White men were superior to everyone else has done more damage than good for sure. Racism, misogyny, colonialism, and needless wars. That is the short list.

Love of subject sustained them through a culture of misogyny, too bad more men aren’t similarly motivated. We can tell they aren’t or they would have insisted on giving credit where credit is due.
Our meritocracy works with little or no merit as it turns out. We see it in every endeavor of humanity. It’s so helpful to be a white man, try changing teams men, become a white woman and you’ll get even less credit than the cis women.
It helps if you start out knowing that life isn’t fair, even if you dedicate your life to making it fair.