4 ms·

The woman who discovered what the universe is made of doesn't even get as much as a plaque, much less a statue. When she died in 1979 her obituary didn't even

by rmason 3y ago

The woman who discovered what the universe is made of doesn't even get as much as a plaque, much less a statue. When she died in 1979 her obituary didn't even mention her greatest discovery. Every high school student knows that Isaac Newton discovered gravity, that Charles Darwin discovered evolution, and that Albert Einstein discovered the relativity of time. But when it comes to the composition of our universe, the textbooks simply say that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. And no one ever wonders how we know.

VHRanger 3y ago
Even to this day, women doing astrophysics seem to be doing at a disadvantage because they have to spend a lot of time monitoring professional relationships for sexual harassment. This video from Dr. Angela Collier went viral a few years ago on the topic [1] I don't think it was easier 100 years ago. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNRBa39Iig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNRBa39Iig
- dash2 3y ago
  How would you spend a lot of time monitoring relationships for sexual harassment?
  - VHRanger 3y ago
    I'm not subject to much sexual or physical harassment as I'm a somewhat physically imposing guy. But what she meant is that a lot of your mental bandwidth is taken in thinking about how you can and can't interact with certain people if there's a culture of tolerating abuse. You can see this in non sexual abuse cases, like nonproductive crunch leads people to watch what they say to PMs, etc.
deleted 3y ago
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SenAnder 3y ago
> And no one ever wonders how we know. The same can be said of plate tectonics, vaccines, the transistor, the cosmic microwave background radiation, the big bang, and the laws of thermodynamics.
seanhunter 3y ago
She has a volcano on Venus named after her[1]. That's quite a lot more awesome than a plaque. [1] https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4623 https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4623

by rmason 3y ago

VHRanger 3y ago

Even to this day, women doing astrophysics seem to be doing at a disadvantage because they have to spend a lot of time monitoring professional relationships for sexual harassment. This video from Dr. Angela Collier went viral a few years ago on the topic [1] I don't think it was easier 100 years ago. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNRBa39Iig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNRBa39Iig

dash2 3y ago
How would you spend a lot of time monitoring relationships for sexual harassment?
- VHRanger 3y ago
  I'm not subject to much sexual or physical harassment as I'm a somewhat physically imposing guy. But what she meant is that a lot of your mental bandwidth is taken in thinking about how you can and can't interact with certain people if there's a culture of tolerating abuse. You can see this in non sexual abuse cases, like nonproductive crunch leads people to watch what they say to PMs, etc.

deleted 3y ago

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SenAnder 3y ago

> And no one ever wonders how we know. The same can be said of plate tectonics, vaccines, the transistor, the cosmic microwave background radiation, the big bang, and the laws of thermodynamics.

seanhunter 3y ago

She has a volcano on Venus named after her[1]. That's quite a lot more awesome than a plaque. [1] https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4623 https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4623