Intersection Part 2
April 27, 2017
So once again my cultural experiences are unexpectedly intersecting. I just started reading the book, Lab Girl which has truly caught my attention, and today I attended the play Silent Sky. Both of these deal with females and their battles and successes in the scientific world.
Lab Girl is the memoir of Scientist Hope Jahren who opened my eyes to nature in a new way. But it is so much more than that; it is also about this scientist's passion and also, her sacrifices. Finally, it is about our lack of respect for science and research and how little we support it through funding unless the results are big bucks for others. Of course, it is also about--as it is now in 2017--about women's rights and the fight for more respect.
Switch to the play Silent Sky and the story of Harvard College Observatory scientist Henrietta Swan Leavitt and her female colleagues who made major discoveries about the luminosity of certain stars and the key to measuring distance between Earth and the galaxies. We owe much of our understanding about space to these females. Shockingly, these women were never allowed to use the observatory's refracting telescope, until Henrietta was dying and finally recognized for her accomplishments.
How do I even express my frustration with this. I am thrilled that all the individuals are finally being recognized, but why so late. Seriously, 2017????!!!!! However, the stories are getting out and people are amazed at not having ever heard them before. Books are being sold and read; movies and plays are being made and making companies big bucks; however, the real question is whether these stories will have an impact on the treatment of women in the workplaces and their fight for respect, equal pay, and recognition.
The wait continues....
So once again my cultural experiences are unexpectedly intersecting. I just started reading the book, Lab Girl which has truly caught my attention, and today I attended the play Silent Sky. Both of these deal with females and their battles and successes in the scientific world.
Lab Girl is the memoir of Scientist Hope Jahren who opened my eyes to nature in a new way. But it is so much more than that; it is also about this scientist's passion and also, her sacrifices. Finally, it is about our lack of respect for science and research and how little we support it through funding unless the results are big bucks for others. Of course, it is also about--as it is now in 2017--about women's rights and the fight for more respect.
Switch to the play Silent Sky and the story of Harvard College Observatory scientist Henrietta Swan Leavitt and her female colleagues who made major discoveries about the luminosity of certain stars and the key to measuring distance between Earth and the galaxies. We owe much of our understanding about space to these females. Shockingly, these women were never allowed to use the observatory's refracting telescope, until Henrietta was dying and finally recognized for her accomplishments.
How do I even express my frustration with this. I am thrilled that all the individuals are finally being recognized, but why so late. Seriously, 2017????!!!!! However, the stories are getting out and people are amazed at not having ever heard them before. Books are being sold and read; movies and plays are being made and making companies big bucks; however, the real question is whether these stories will have an impact on the treatment of women in the workplaces and their fight for respect, equal pay, and recognition.
The wait continues....
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