Category: STEM

Ada Lovelace: Math, Vision, and Ambition in a Woman Meets Certain Death in Victorian England

Ada Lovelace: Math, Vision, and Ambition in a Woman Meets Certain Death in Victorian England

Posted by | Jun 8, 2021 |

When I think of Ada Lovelace 1815-1852, widely recognized as the first computer programmer, I think of a woman with highly curious intellect, vision, superb math skills, and ambition with absolutely no where to apply them in Victorian England. She chose to find men who had position and power and apply her gifts through them, as that was one of  the only ways a woman could push her own agenda in that time, but the men she chose failed or betrayed her and she was left with nothing. I cannot begin to imagine this woman’s frustration. It boils my...

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The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women – And Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura (2021)

The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women – And Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura (2021)

Posted by | May 18, 2021 | ,

On January 23, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded a medical degree. She was the first woman in the United States allowed to earn one and she was determined to be a trailblazer. Many labeled Elizabeth an exception: “From all we have been able to learn respecting Miss B.,” it [a letter] concluded, “she is emphatically an exception”(Nimura 81). Elizabeth did all she could to make sure she was not an exception and by the end of her and her sister Emily’s lives: “The ranks of accomplished women doctors were growing, and the Blackwells could take much of the credit...

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Marie Curie: The Quest to Know, Polish/French (1867-1934)

Marie Curie: The Quest to Know, Polish/French (1867-1934)

Posted by | Mar 9, 2021 |

“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.” ~Marie Curie Marie Curie discovered radioactivity. This is a simplified and reductionist sentence but still, you should have that association in your mind with this woman because her work is that important. Though many focus on the love affair between her and her husband and sometimes, the more illicit love affair with a married man later in life as a widow, the real love affair was between her and the elements she isolated—polonium and radium—and the mysterious glowing substances they produced. I think probably what she was really in...

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Katalin Karikó: The biochemist who persisted!

Katalin Karikó: The biochemist who persisted!

Posted by | Jan 20, 2021 |

I happened to stumble onto the story of this incredible woman whose resilience and persistence have yielded such a relevant contribution to science and medicine, one that we all will benefit from, now and in the future. We need to learn from her story. Yes, she is extraordinary, but what she endured is unacceptable. We can and must do better. “Usually, at that point, people just say goodbye and leave because it’s so horrible,” said Katalin Karikó(FRANCE 24). What if she had thrown her arms up in the air and walked away? And what about those who do just say...

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Representation Begets Representation: Susan Goldberg’s Legacy as Editor-in-Chief of Nat Geo

Representation Begets Representation: Susan Goldberg’s Legacy as Editor-in-Chief of Nat Geo

Posted by | Jan 7, 2020 |

Susan Goldberg is the first female editor-in-chief of National Geographic in its 130-year history. The November 2019 issue is a good illustration of what can happen when women are represented at top positions and use that representation to shine the light on other women. The issue is titled “Women: A Century of Change” and is about women worldwide, their lives and achievements, fears and dreams and includes only articles written by women and photographs taken by women. The November 2019 issue on women is part of a yearlong project marking the centenary of U.S. women winning the vote and...

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