I learned about Ada Lovelace from my usual source of learning: webcomics. This time, it was the famed Kate Beaton that did me the learn' in in this comic(it's the 3rd on the page). I laugh at these comics so much.
I googled Ada Lovelace and was amazed at her legacy, and that fact that she was making predictions about the use of computers way back in the 17th century, blows me away. And she has the coolest last name.
So, today, I am on it.
Ursula Franklin
This amazing woman, born in 1921 in Munich, Germany, is known for her achievements and contributions to fields of metallurgy and archaeometry. What really inspires me though, is her commitment to humanitarian projects and her attitude toward women in science. (I know this is supposed to be about technology, but I just think that her outlook on life is so important to making her great in my mind)
She is a survivor of the Holocaust (her mother was Jewish), and as a young science student, was placed in a work camp. She repaired bomb buildings during the war. These things didn't stop her. In 1948! she earned her PhD in EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS at Technical University in Berlin.
1949, she immigrates to Canada. She was a peace activist, a physicist, and Canada's VERY FIRST FEMALE PROFFESOR (later in 1984). How amazing is that.
In the 1960s she did research into the effects of nuclear weapons testing, and the presence of one of their elements, strontium 90, found in childrens' teeth.
I love this interview in Inkling Magazine with her, especially this part:
Q: You’ve said scientists have the responsibility to ask questions about the impact of progress on communities. Should scientists be activists? What would you say to those who fear this might compromise their objectivity?I would say something unprintable! Because objectivity is an illusion. I think scientists have an obligation to be within the best of their ability to be correct, they have an obligation to know the limits of their knowledge.
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