4 ms·

From the title, I thought this was going to be about Julia Robinson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson

From the title, I thought this was going to be about Julia Robinson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Robinson I don't know why that's the most famous female logician I could think of. Maybe because Matiyasevich credits her very self-effacedly whenever he talks about the 10th problem. But regarding the actual article... "Only by arguing that she was too ugly to get a husband was she able to persuade her father and grandmother to allow her to study at the women’s college Vassar." Holy crap, I wonder how much of this still happens.

Jenya_ 9y ago
"Due to the fact that women could not do experiment work in laboratories she was forced to choose mathematics[1] over physics, a decision that she regretted all of her life."
astura 9y ago
True story. In the late 70s my grandmother was annoyed at my aunt (her daughter)'s decision to finish high school instead of dropping out. She actually said this: "You don't need a high school diploma to push a baby carriage." Yeah, sure that's not "now," but now we make it into "wholesome" TV. (The Duggars)
- peterwwillis 9y ago
  Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply). In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and the implications thereof make education a much less pressing concern than others. Even when you finish school, kids today are at a significant disadvantage as test scores continue to plummet. In some areas of the US there's no significant advantage to finishing high school. And after having a child very young with no other parent to help raise it, going to school may not be a choice one can reasonably make. Women today face not only discrimination and abuse, they are left rearing children and trying to make ends meet starting in their teens, with large racial and economic biases. This is the reality we should really be shocked by, and not just the vestiges of our recent past.

Jenya_ 9y ago

"Due to the fact that women could not do experiment work in laboratories she was forced to choose mathematics[1] over physics, a decision that she regretted all of her life."

astura 9y ago

True story. In the late 70s my grandmother was annoyed at my aunt (her daughter)'s decision to finish high school instead of dropping out. She actually said this: "You don't need a high school diploma to push a baby carriage." Yeah, sure that's not "now," but now we make it into "wholesome" TV. (The Duggars)

peterwwillis 9y ago
Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply). In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and the implications thereof make education a much less pressing concern than others. Even when you finish school, kids today are at a significant disadvantage as test scores continue to plummet. In some areas of the US there's no significant advantage to finishing high school. And after having a child very young with no other parent to help raise it, going to school may not be a choice one can reasonably make. Women today face not only discrimination and abuse, they are left rearing children and trying to make ends meet starting in their teens, with large racial and economic biases. This is the reality we should really be shocked by, and not just the vestiges of our recent past.