I’ve got kind of an odd survey/quiz/timekiller, if anyone’d care to partake: Name the first five female “Mad Scientist” characters that you can think of.
“Hero” or “villain” doesn’t matter, as long as they’re fictional, and at least broadly qualify as a Mad Scientist.
(I actually do have a reason for asking; if and when this quiz pans out, I’ll share.)
Nora Wakeman, “My Life As A Teenage Robot”.
Agatha Heterodyne of Girl Genius
Lucrezia Mongfish of Girl Genius
Sieglinde of the Island Worlds novels.
Genevieve Lefoux of the Parasol Protectorate books.
Doctor Beatriz Juruna of the webcomic A Miracle of Science.
Some kid wrote, “Radium was discovered by Madman Curry.” 
Without viewing the other replies, and after I admit a few minutes’ thought, I came up with these, all from comic books:
Nina Sharp from *Fringe *- while more an executive than an actual inventor, she was no slouch in the science department herself.
Temperance “Bones” Brennan of Bones.
Her colleague Angela Montenegro also strikes me as pretty whacky, and, despite her hotness, gives me the creeps (supposedly she is an artist rather than a scientist, but most of what she does on the show is far more sciency). Of course, several of the male scientists on the show are also quite loopy, Zack the would-be serial killer being only the most extreme case.
I can’t think of five off the top of my head, though. I suppose that’s the point. It is TEH SEXISM!! Women are excluded from the mad scientist old-boy club. Affirmative action for female mad scientists now!!
Before I read the “fictional” part I was going to go with Marie Curie. According to Facebook meme her notebooks are going to be radioactive well into the 36th Century. I know she didn’t know but that’s still insane.
I’ll add Abby Sciuto to the list of other mentioned, if only because she’s science-y and extremely eccentric.
Other than that, I got nothing.
Minerva Paradizo from the Artemis Fowl books. I admit I had to double-check her name with Google, as it’s been a while since I read the series.
Do killer nurses count as mad scientists? If yes, then “Nurse Ratchet” in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest … and lots of similar characters in horror movies.
The Rani.
I always get beaten to the punch!:mad:
And I thought of those two in that order as well!
1: Agatha Heterodyne
2: Gadget Hackwrench
3: …um… Dr. Susan Calvin, maybe?
And there I’m stuck. OK, sure, I could have listed Lucrezia Mongfish and Sleipnir O’Hara, as well, but I don’t think you wanted multiple from the same source.
And of course as soon as I post that I can’t think of any more, I realized that I do have one more: Para Ventura, from Schlock Mercenary.
Alice from Dilbert
Abigail from Original Life
Damn, this is harder than I thought.
The only one I could think of off the top of my head.
Wish I’d remembered her!
Dr. Claire Saunders and Bennet Halverson from Dollhouse.
Franken Fran.
Dr. Vahlen, of X-COM: Enemy Unknown.
Pearl from MST3K and “I’m in insurance” from 12 Monkeys.