Science

Ada Lovelace Day

Mar 24th, 2009

Today is Ada Lovelace Day. The original conception was to increase awareness of women in technology, and of the presence of female role models, by getting a thousand people to write blog posts about a woman in technology who inspires them. Nearly 2000 people signed up!

I am a nonconformist, and chose a woman from science rather than one from technology: Beatrix Potter.

I can see the puzzlement from here. Potter? But she wrote kid’s books! Well, yes, so? She was also an extremely talented naturalist, and an expert mycologist. Potter was originated the idea that lichens were a symbiosis between a fungus and an alga.

Beatrix Potter lived at a time when drawing and painting and being amateur naturalists (birdwatching and painting flowers) were acceptable pursuits for women of good breeding, but scientific observation and analysis were not. She was turned away from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, had publications refused by the Royal Society, and had to have someone else give her paper before the Linnaean Society, all because she was female.

Beatrix Potter is one of my heroines. I’ve studied at scientific institutions, published in scientific journals, and presented before scientific audiences. No longer are these unusual activities for women, though there is certainly still sexism present. Potter helped to push the boundaries preventing women from participating in these activities, no matter how brilliant their insights. She should be remembered for her charming tales and lovely illustrations, but also for an inquiring mind.

A linking we will go…

by Sarah.

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Catch-up on a few things I’ve collected:

The business of writing essays for other people. For them to learn from, of course: no one would actually turn these in under a false name. Right? Right.

Citizen science: how interested amateurs can contribute to scientific understanding. Think of it as distributed science – a whole bunch of people doing a little bit can add up to big payoffs. The National Phenology Networkand Project Budburst are tracking the growth stages of particular species of plants, and could use your help.

CPSC guide to the new standards for lead in children’s items discussed here previously.

What’s a heuristic, anyway? And why call your blog such a weird word? Here’s one explanation, from Steve Pavlina, nicely tied into some suggestions for productivity. This is more or less what I had in mind when I titled the blog.

Trust our science

Mar 4th, 2009

by Sarah.

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Time to end the multigenerational Ponzi scheme
By Kim Stanley Robinson

First, we need to trust our science. We do this every time we fly in a jet or rush to the doctor in hope of relief from illness; but now there is some cherry-picking of science going on in the various kinds of resistance to the news about climate change, and this double standard needs to be called out.

Kim Stanley Robinson is an author who has thought deeply about the future of our planet (and any others we might visit or colonize), and this article on capitalism and environmental change is well worth a read. There’s plenty of doom-and-gloom out there, but not much with solid suggestions, no matter how difficult to implement.

KSR wrote a trilogy set in a near-future world struggling with climate change: Forty Signs of Rain, Fifty Degrees Below, and Sixty Days and Counting. I’m a sucker for any work of fiction that depicts scientists as regular people, and was extra-thrilled to find a good, interesting and thought-provoking novels about the National Science Foundation.

Edit: Concidentally, you can read one of KSR’s earlier novels, Red Marsonline for free (PDF download) at Random House’s new online library, Suvudu.

Happy Birthday Mr. Darwin

Feb 12th, 2009

by Sarah.

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Dear Papa Darwin,

On this, the 200th anniversary of your birth, you’d be happy to know that the theory of evolution by means of natural selection that you developed is now universally recognized as the essential foundation of modern biology, and even schoolchildren learn and understand the modern synthesis that led from those first principles.

Actually, that isn’t true. The modern theory of evolution is the foundation of modern biology, including modern medicine, but despite the great advances in knowledge, a remarkably large proportion of Americans ~~are poorly educated idiots~~ don’t believe it. Something like 42% of Americans believe that life has existed in its present form since the beginning of time, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The rest of us make fun of them, but are actually deeply disturbed by the idea that so many people, including candidates for high office, have stated that creationism should be taught in schools. Really, we’re deeply disturbed that this is even a debate.

Our political and educational problems aren’t your fault, of course. I just wanted to thank you for your intellectual curiosity and hard work.

Sincerely,
Sarah

PS I wanted to send this earlier today, but there was a little problem at work. I accidently deleted the entire state of New York. If any of my readers happen to live there, I apologize, and your state will be back by noon tomorrow, better than ever. (I took the opportunity to make some small improvements.)

You ARE prey

Feb 9th, 2009

by Sarah.

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The headline says it all: Oldest Human Hair Found in Hyena Poop Fossil?

On this date

Feb 3rd, 2009

by Sarah.

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From the Writer’s Almanac:

It’s the birthday of the first woman to graduate from medical school, Elizabeth Blackwell, born on this day in Bristol, England, in 1821. She wanted to become a doctor because she knew that many women would rather discuss their health problems with another woman. She read medical texts and studied with doctors, but she was rejected by all the big medical schools. Finally the Geneva Medical College (which became Hobart College) in upstate New York accepted her. The faculty wasn’t sure what to do with such a qualified candidate, and so they turned the decision over to the students. The male students voted unanimously to accept her. Her classmates and even professors considered many medical subjects too delicate for a woman, and didn’t think she should be allowed to attend lectures on the reproductive system. But she graduated, became a doctor, and opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.

Go Dr. Blackwell!

The NIH has a more detailed biography. Dr. Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from a US medical school, which is a more reasonable claim (though still a remarkable achievement).

“She … was accepted by Geneva Medical College in western New York state in 1847. The faculty, assuming that the all-male student body would never agree to a woman joining their ranks, allowed them to vote on her admission. As a joke, they voted “yes,” and she gained admittance, despite the reluctance of most students and faculty.”

I wonder how many important things came about in that manner?