The Enchantress of Numbers

Though this is outside my usual obsessions, I agreed to blog for Ada Lovelace Day today, celebrating women in technology.

Ada Lovelace was probably the world's first programmer: although her program never ran because the machine it was designed for was never built, she wrote it for Charles Babbage's proposed "analytical engine" in the early 1840's. Lovelace was the daughter of poet Lord Byron and Babbage called her "The Enchantress of Numbers."

These days, we frequently hear about the dearth of women in science and technology. But what we don't see much about is the areas in which women are succeeding in science: in 2000, for example, 60% of undergraduate degrees in biology went to women and as of 2004, 49.5% of students in the first year of medical school were women. In chemistry, 41% of undergraduate degrees are now earned by women. And 67% of psychology PhD's go to women.

Sure, you can argue that psychology is a "soft" science that doesn't really count--but molecular biology, chemistry and today's high tech medicine? If a woman discovers a cure for cancer or Alzheimer's, is that not science?

So, here's to all the female scientists and technologists--in all fields--making their way in a formerly male-dominated world. Right now, we can use all of the intelligence we can get!

Comments

[raechel]

I, too, signed the pledge months ago and posted my blog entry profiling my sister.

Lots of people wrote about Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper. I want to mention a couple of women who contributed to mathematics.

Hypatia - the Greek mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer who taught at the library in Alexandria at the end of the 4th century AD. She had studied in Italy and Athens, and students came from all over the world to learn from her. She died at the hands of a Christian mob that blamed her for religious discord. The mob pulled her from her chariot, stripped her naked, and dragged her through the streets before torturing and burning her.

Sophie Germain - was a French mathematician who made significant contributions in the field of number theory, and toward the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Her parents forbad the study of mathematics, believing it to be inappropriate for a woman, but she persisted on her own and sometimes in secret. Pretending to be a male student, she corresponded with several great mathematicians of her time, and they encouraged her study. Her solitary studies won her some acclaim, and she was eventually the first woman to attend sessions of the French Academy of Sciences.

[wondering]

Hooray for Ada Lovelace!

Another important female computer pioneer was the "amazing" Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Among many other accomplishments, she created the first compiler for a computer language.

As a teacher of mathematics and computer programming, I like to use these women to inspire the young ladies in my classes. Maybe I'll assign a research project on their contributions in honor of Ada's Day. Thanks for reminding me.

[RadicalRepublican]

YAY!

I know that it's popular to say that women are finally equal to men. But they've always been so. Western society is merely recognizing reality. Well at least in progressive states, I guess in racistt/NA­SCAR/good-­ol-boy America, women are still considered inferior.