Guess What Day It Is

I always get stupid names for these so I have devised an egalitarian solution

me: can u please study

my brain: but that makes me stressed

me: fine then dont study

my brain: but that makes me stressed

me:

new print in my shop!

My friend just told me that her PI was disappointed when one of her PhD students took a week off in the summer last year…

Chemist screws up:

Your lungs are now filled with hydrogen cyanide

The Harvard Computers (Hint: They were women, not machines!)

Today is the birthday of Annie Jump Cannon, born December 11, 1863, known as one of ‘Harvard’s Computers’. She is credited along with Edward Pickering as the creator of the Harvard Classification Scheme which remains the foundation of today’s stellar classification system.

One of a dozen women hired by Pickering to do the hard work of identifying, classifying and cataloging hundreds of stellar objects, Cannon distinguished herself as the brightest of the bright and rose finally to a full professorship before her death in 1941. Pickering hired the first of his ‘computers’ in a pique of frustration, noting that his maid could probably do better work than he was getting from his students.  Indeed, he hired his maid, Williamina Fleming, who became the first of his ‘computers’ and quickly distinguished herself. Pickering was pleased enough with her work (and lower wages) that he soon built a team comprised entirely of women to compose the catalog. Cannon was hired a little later to oversee a catalog of the southern skies.  While no eponym celebrates her name, her contribution (along with the remaining group at Harvard) as well as the countless women throughout history to impact science, math, politics and all human endeavor, today we remember and say Happy Birthday. A true gifted scientist and true pioneer, gone but not forgotten. As in most human endeavors, nameless and tireless women support the work of more celebrated men with little or no credit.  Newton said of his work:  ’If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’  Today we acknowledge that many of those giants were and are women.

Image curently in the public domain courtesy New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper.

Today’s post is for hb-she does twice the work and asks for half the credit.  Our boys are who they are because of her.

Hot off the presses! Check out the cover of my new book: Women In Science. Thanks to ten speed press for sending me a copy! Very proud and excited. Hits stores July 26 but you can pre-order it here: readwomeninscience.com

A little friendly fire for @yo-yo-yoshiko. Don’t expect any more of these, I want points dammit!

[ Find me on Art Fight! ]

Pee the Rainbow

“Here is something a little different! I work in a lab at a large hospital, so we see some interesting things. A coworker of mine collected these urines to make a “pee rainbow.” It only took a few days before we had our full spectrum of color. :) It was then requested that I bring my camera to work and document this endeavor.”