Women on the Big Bang Theory



As part of Scientific American's ongoing series of articles on Westinghouse (now Intel) Science Fair finalists, they profile Jane Richardson, who was a finalist in 1958. Richardson was fascinated by astronomy, and she and her friends recorded the position of Sputnik, which allowed her to calculate the orbit of the Soviet satellite.Despite the success of her science fair project project, she didn't take a direct path to becoming a scientist. She started out studying mathematics, physics and astronomy at Swarthmore College, but switched her major to philosophy with a physics minor. She then went to graduate school in philosophy at Harvard, but found that their emphasis was modern philosophy, rather than the classical philosophy she was interested in. That brought her back to science.
Meanwhile, Richardson explains, she had enrolled in "several excellent courses in plant taxonomy and evolution in the Harvard botany department, [which was] very gracious to an interested outsider. I then tried high school teaching, which didn't work because when I concentrated on something I became completely oblivious to anything else. Then I joined, as a technician, the chemistry lab at MIT where my husband, David, was working on a PhD."Her husband was working on the 3-dimensional crystal structures of proteins. She also became fascinated with the 3D molecular structures, and was inspired to develop a way of depicting them as "ribbon drawings". But it wasn't easy. She spent two years developing her "taxonomy of protein structure". The resulting diagrams were not only were visually appealing, but also made the structures more understandable.
In fact, aside from appearing on the covers of numerous journals, the "Richardson diagrams" broke open the study of these complex molecules. "Jane and David's work allowed us to reveal the form of proteins, and from there it was easier to understand their function," 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry co-winner Peter Agre recently told Duke Research, a university publication.Her careful observations of protein structure allowed her to formulate general rules for protein structure and lead to proposed mechanisms of protein folding.Jane and her husband David moved to Duke university in 1970, where both are currently professors in the Department of Biochemistry. In 1985 she received a MacArthur Fellowship, was made a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and in 2006 was elected to the National Institute of Medicine, despite never having earned a Ph.D or M.D..She told the Biological Physicist:
"I think," she says, "that you can be intensely ambitious in science on very non-establishment terms that have nothing at all to do with running your own lab, with getting tenure and lots of grant money, or even with getting explicit recognition for your ideas. The first big reward is the excitement of attaining a new insight, independent of whether it is shared with anyone else. But if later work proves you right and if everyone else eventually ends up adopting and using your ideas, then that is success, and it can in some ways add to the fun if they don't always realize who started it. I want immortality from both my biological and my intellectual children, but I don't think they would be as much worth procreating and nurturing if they were always busy thinking of me as their source." I think it's pretty amazing that Richardson took such a non-traditional path to scientific success. However, I can't help but think that she had a luxury that most scientists do not: a husband who is a successful scientist himself, and who was willing to share his research results - and later space and grant money - with his wife.Related links:
Ribbon Diagrams: They Turned Messy Data Into Beautiful Pictures
Ribbon Diagrams and Protein Taxonomy: A Profile of Jane S. Richardon, The Biological Physicist 4(3):5 (2004) (pdf)
Women in Chemistry: Jane RichardsonEarlier in the series:• Mary-Dell ChiltonImage - bottom: Duke ResearchImage - top: Scientific AmericanTags: Jane Richardson, biochemistry, Westinghouse Science Talent Search
Categories: astronomy, awards, biochemistry
Posted by Peggy at 11:33 PM 1 comments Links to this post
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Women on the Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom that features a couple of socially awkward yet brilliant male physics postdocs who live across the hall from a sociable "blond bombshell" actress/waitress of "average intellect." And of course one of the geeky geniuses finds love with his hot non-genius neighbor. I've never seen it, so I don't really know what it's like. The description makes it sounds like nerdy male fantasy fulfillment, which isn't really my cup of tea.The season finale was on May 19, but it was apparently popular enough that they are talking about next season. Science recently ran an article about the show's science advisor, UCLA physicist David Saltzberg, who apparently keeps the physics fairly accurate. So does The Big Bang Theory include any female physicists?
Leonard, plyaed by Johnny Galecki, is the experimentalist who longs for [actress/waitress] Penny and has a disastrous fling with Leslie, a brilliant labmate, who spends part of their tryst correcting an equation. In the episode in which Leonard firs asks Leslie for a date – "a biosocial exploration with a neurochemical overlay," he calls it – the two test how long it takes a powerful lab laser to heat up soup.You can watch the clip on YouTube. If you enjoy scientist stereotypes - thick glasses, uncombed hair, poor social skills - you'll probably get a laugh out of it.
Leslie is the only female research on the show, a complaint [creator] Prady and Saltzberg hear often from women, whether scientists or journalists. Prady promises that more female scientists will appear. "The [female-male] ratio is actually higher on the show that it is in my part of the field, which is pretty bad, Saltzberger unhappily adds.There are fewer than one? I guess he's talking about the ratio of the single female physicist character to the 3 or 4 male physicist characters. But hey, it's a fantasy, so why not have two female physicists - and have one of them date a sexy actor/waiter.The show's production team actually visited the UCLA physics department and apparently received a depressing picture of what it's like to be a woman in physics - which, of course, they'll include in the show:
Prady met a physicist who lies about what she does in social situations, because she feels her career intimidates men. "We're going to have Leslie do that," Prady says. "Whenever anybody says they lie about who they are, there's a rich story to tell there."At least I find it depressing. The article goes on to talk about how much physicists - male and female - love the series, so maybe it's just me. I doubt I'll bother to give it a go when I can watch the socially inept but brilliant Gregory House instead.
Watch the video clips that accompany the Science article.
Watch some recent full episodes of the Big Bang Theory at CBS.com.