Brilliant women!

[FloralBunting]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44962253

Second attempt at a clicky thread.

In the midst of all the crap, I think it is a good thing to focus on women who are inspiring. Just saw this story on the news and think she is a very good addition to start with. Any others? Go on, show me some amazing women I can show my kids!

Wondering about the motivation to piss on women's chips though. That's curious.

I assume that's aimed at me. I consider telling my daughters about brilliant women important enough not to give them bullshit examples.

It seems as though the value of Ada Lovelace's contribution to computing is still a hotly debated historical topic, and nowhere near as clear cut as that one paper of Bromley's from 1990 would suggest: see Collings et al, 2017 (open access, hooray)
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17498430.2017.1325297

So I wouldn't be too quick to write off Ada!

Right, so the army in Norway allows physically weak women into its special forces? Or do you mean that they're not as strong as the men? Not being as strong as the men doesn't make them physically weak, it makes them not as strong as the men but strong enough to do what's being asked of them.

Charles Babbage postulated the first computer program. Which is unsurprising as he invented the computer in question. Lovelaces' contribution may have been significant, but to call her 'the first computer programmer' is a lie.

If you want to nit-pick then neither of them were computer programmers per se seeing as the computer to be programmed was never functional.

All the older women volunteers who run everything in my village. The charity shops, church, choir, library, flower festival, U3A. You name it, they're doing it. For free, without complaint or expectation of recognition.

Leni Riefenstahl?

The Nazi sympathiser?

Really...?

Hedy Lamarr

inventionconvention.com/americasinventor/dec97issue/section2.html

A Woman’s Place has tweeted loads of inspirational women.

AssassinatedBeauty
"Right, so the army in Norway allows physically weak women into its special forces? Or do you mean that they're not as strong as the men? Not being as strong as the men doesn't make them physically weak, it makes them not as strong as the men but strong enough to do what's being asked of them."

I don't disagree, given that they're mostly being asked to talk to other women.

But that wasn't the comparison being made by MrGHardy; in a combat situation I think they'd be up shit creek against other SF operatives. Saying that they're vital in an intelligence and communication role is one thing. Implying that outside of that role they are special forces equivalent is dubious at best. The 'special forces' moniker seems to be essentially a political move.

Bowlofbabelfish
"Leni Riefenstahl?

The Nazi sympathiser?

Really...?"

When someone says 'Leni Riefenstahl was a genius' that does not equate with 'I approve of her political choices'. She was a genius. Unfortunately that's the reason why she was so favoured by the Nazi's. I think her work, technically, makes her one of the, if not the, most talented artist in her field of the 20th century. As for people who take the moral high ground on that point and express disdain... I'm inclined to think they are full of s*. Most people would cooperate with a brutal totalitarian regime for their own sake and for the people close to them. From the comfy armchair of liberal democracy most people would be outraged by such an idea.

I find it hard to understand how you can read that article and conclude that they're mostly being asked to "talk to women", and conclude they are bullshit.

I agree Freespeecher a film about Lily Litvyak would be great. Yes she received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. I used to have a book called Heroines of the Soviet Union and she along with many other Soviet women were featured in it. I used to love that book as a young woman.

So, Wonderfluid, when you want to tell your daughters about brilliant women you tell them about Leni Riefenstahl and Tu Youyou. I didn't know about Tu Youyou and her Nobel prize, so thanks for that. But what do you tell your daughters about Leni Riefenstahl? And are there any other women whose achievements you might encourage them to aspire to?

So, one of Wonder's contributions is a filmmaker most closely associated with the Nazis? I hope the weather is lovely and the goats plentiful under that bridge.

Lillian Bilocca and the other headscarf hero's of hull.

They fought really hard to improve the conditions for trawler men in the 1960s. They faced so much abuse, but refused to stop.

Most people would cooperate with a brutal totalitarian regime for their own sake and for the people close to them.

I’m sure they would. But everything I’ve read about her suggests she was fairly enamoured of both Hitler and his ideas. I don’t think there was ever a suggestion she was doing it to save her skin, she was an enthusiastic participant

Women of Ideas, and What Men Have Done to Them, by Dale Spender.

Mary (Fairfax) Somerville, self taught science writer and polymath, is my favorite ironic choice because while she could not enter the schools, to teach or to learn, the men in the schools used her work to teach other men.

Helen Keller
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

Helen Sharman
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Sharman

Valentina Tereshkova
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova

Edith Cavell

Edith Cavell
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell

Elizabeth Blackwell
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

Bessie Coleman
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

"Why does that make them physically weak?"

I didn't know that every mission requires copious amounts of strength. But do tell more, do the men carry 50 kg backpacks on every mission that the women wouldn't be able to?

"But that wasn't the comparison being made by MrGHardy; in a combat situation I think they'd be up shit creek against other SF operatives. Saying that they're vital in an intelligence and communication role is one thing. Implying that outside of that role they are special forces equivalent is dubious at best. The 'special forces' moniker seems to be essentially a political move."

I didn't know that the one advantage SF have over normal troops is physical strength. You know, rather than tactical superiority and specialist skills. Maybe we should ask weight lifters to be in SF?

Anyway, this is derailing, I mentioned them because I think they are badass and in a world where men do all the cool shit, it would be nice to see women can do that kind of stuff, too.

fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Louise_des_Forest

Pretty impressive name as well as some achievements

Five amazing female scientists you’ve probably never heard of

Jess Wade’s work to add women in science to Wikipedia demonstrates the importance of Stem role models for young people.

The Guardian redeeming itself a little.

lesley brown
no she wasn't a soldier or a scientist,she was a woman who wanted a child.and was brave enough to go for broke..
she is the mother of louise brown( who turned 40 this week)

Here's one in the sporting field - breaking news today.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-44981245

Women skippers are one and two in the round the world clipper race.

World War II was a time for heroes, both on the battlefield and on the home front, and one of those was machine operator, Ruby Loftus.

Loftus was born in Llanhilleth in South Wales and in 1940 she and her sisters were assigned to work at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Newport.

She proved herself to be exceptionally skilful in operating a lathe and was chosen to work on the breech-ring component of the 40-millimetre Bofors anti-aircraft gun.

This was a technically challenging task that was usually carried out by men with eight or nine years experience in the engineering shop. Such was Ruby’s rapid progress that a deputation from Woolwich Arsenal was sent to see her skills for themselves.

She was immortalised by Dame Laura Knight in the painting ‘Ruby Loftus screwing a Breech-ring’ (above) which was commissioned by the Ministry of Information in 1943.

The painting was voted Picture of the Year and the South Wales Argus described the scene: ‘A shy girl with brown eyes and her hair in a victory roll.’

Loftus returned to work and later in 1943 married a lance-corporal in the 11th Hussars. After the war, the government offered to sponsor her on a college engineering course which she refused. Instead, she and her husband emigrated to British Columbia.