NASA Feature

Look! A few weeks ago, I received an email from the University of California in Berkeley - they were putting together an article that would be distributed to middle school students (free of charge) by NASA. And they wanted to include a "head-shot" of my ACEO collage of Henrietta Swan Leavitt (largely unrecognized for her important work)! What an honour! It turned out so good:

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

Today is Ada Lovelace day!

WHO? Ada Lovelace is considered to be the world's first computer programmer - she wrote software for Charles Babbage's analytical machine, the first "computer." Unfortunately, the analytical machine was never completed, but her programs would still have worked. In fact, she was one of the first to see computers as more than just adding machines - envisioning that computers could even compose elaborate pieces of music one day.

So what? WHY does that give Ada a whole day to herself? Well... have you ever heard of Ada Lovelace? What about Henrietta Leavitt? Rosalind Franklin?

Probably not.

These women were all scientist & made major contributions to their fields (see above & below) - but did they get any recognition? Does anyone ever learn about them, except in passing reference to their male colleagues? Of course not, they were women!

So today is a day for recognizing women in science: a field where we're often ignored or unacknowledged - where a women's contribution is often attributed to her male colleagues' ideas - or a man's "interpretation" of her work is deemed most important.

We're important too, darn it!

Thankfully, "political correctness" is all the rage now - and gender equality falls within those boundaries. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean women are getting paid the same amount as a man for doing the same job ... but it's getting better. Let's continue the positive trend - spread the word! Today is Ada Lovelace day!

Rosalind Franklin: her x-ray crystallography photographs were what clued Watson & Crick in that DNA was a double-stranded helix. They probably would never have figured out DNA's structure without it.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt: her work on the relationship between periodicity and luminosity of stars forever changed our view of the universe. Her variables allowed Edwin Hubble to measure distances in the universe & discover that other galaxies existed outside of ours (the Milky Way).

All 3 of these women died of cancer (and blood-letting in at least Ada's case) before their work was recognized.

Women in Science: Henrietta Swan Leavitt

The second female scientist I'm going to introduce is Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Her groundbreaking discovery forever changed our view of the Universe... have you heard of her?

If you haven't studied astronomy, chances are you aren't familiar with her name. She was a hard worker - never married, never had children - and in the end, like many females, she never received any recognition during her own lifetime.

• Henrietta Leavitt discovered Cepheid variables, which allowed Edwin Hubble to measure distances between stars, planets and galaxies. The Cepheid variables also enabled him to discover that other galaxies exist outside of ours, the Milky Way Galaxy.
• A Cepheid variable is actually a star. Variable stars pulsate, changing in size and luminosity (brightness). What makes a variable star a Cepheid is the relationship between the luminosity and period: the star will become brightest (and dimmest) at a distinct interval. It's like a sine (or cosine) curve, which I'm showing at the left. Imagine one of the lines as the luminosity: it always increases and decreases to the same level of brightness, and each cycle always takes the same amount of time. Somehow (I don't know the exact mechanics) this is used as a ruler to measure distances in the Universe.
• Henrietta discovered these stars while working at Harvard College Observatory. She was employed as a computer. That's right - before the PC, a computer was actually a job title. Henrietta was part of "Pickering's Harem," the first group of female computers (previously only a man's job). This of course freed the men to do more important (& fun) work, with telescopes, for example (which women were not allowed to use).
• Henrietta started working at the Observatory in 1893 & published her findings in 1908 - only 15 years, which is pretty impressive considering what she was doing. She measured and catalogued the brightness of stars from photographic plates. You can see an example of such a plate at the right. From these, she began to see a pattern, leading to her publication.
• After that, Henrietta's health declined. An illness left her almost completely deaf & she never fully recovered, probably due to the questionable medical practices at the time.
• She was appointed head of Stellar Photometry in 1921 by the new director of the Observatory, Harlow Shapley, but died later that year of cancer. Four years later, Gösta Mittag-Leffler of the Swedish Academy of Science contacted Shapley about Henrietta, intending to nominate her for the Nobel Prize in Physics. She never was, since the Nobel prize is not awarded posthumously, but the real insult came from Shapley, who suggested that he deserved the credit for the interpretation of her work.

Women in Science: Rita Levi-Montalcini

Women in science do not get the recognition they deserve - they are often overlooked, forgotten or brushed to the side to do menial repetitive work. One of the best examples is Rosalind Franklin: without her, Watson & Crick would never have elucidated the structure of DNA. But did she share the Nobel Prize with them? No (sure, she had passed away before the Prize was awarded, but she still doesn't get the credit she deserves).

In honour of all these amazing women, I'm starting a "Women in Science" series, wherein I will explain some of the invaluable work these female scientists have accomplished.

Today we're going to start with Rita Levi-Montalcini, a remarkable woman I first learned about in my undergrad program (Biology & Pharmacology Co-op at McMaster University).

• Rita Levi-Montalcini won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). Her experiments looked at the growth of chick embryos & found that a transplanted tumour caused an excessive outgrowth of nerves. She thought the tumour cells must be producing a compound (NGF) that was exclusively inducing the growth of neurons. At the time (1952), it was a fairly radical idea & no one believed her - but she went on to prove her theory. Further research also showed that cells can produce NGF when looking for a new nerve connection.
• Rita shared the Nobel Prize with her colleague Stanley Cohen. He found that NGF was abundant in snake venom & mammalian saliva & was able to isolate the protein to determine its structure. At the same time, he discovered epidermal growth factor, a compound that promotes the growth of a number of different cell types.
• Rita is a twin. She & her twin sister Paola were born in 1909 - which makes her 101, the oldest living Nobel laureate. She's also the first Nobel Prize winner to reach her 100th birthday.
• As with many female scientists, Rita was discouraged along the way. Her father ran a strict household & thought that a professional career would interfere with a woman's role as a wife & mother. Eventually, triumphantly, she was able to overcome his objections & enrolled in medical school.
• As a Jewish family in Italy during WWII, Rita's medical career was over almost as soon as it began. She set up a lab in her own bedroom though - more than once since she had to relocate - and conducted her own experiments! She even hired an old teacher of hers as an assistant for a time. At the end of the war, another one of her professors asked her to join him in America. She planned on staying a few months, but the experiments went so well she stayed for 30 years!
• Rita is a Senator for Life in Italy, where she gets a lot of bad press from people who disagree with her political opinions. She's fierce though & won't back down, despite her age & gradual loss of hearing & sight.

I think Rita Levi-Montalcini is someone from whom everyone can learn a little something. Her persistence & integrity are certainly laudable; she's definitely someone to look up to.