This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/mar/07/women-science-newcastle-discovery-centre
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| What have Ada Lovelace, Caroline Herschel, Rosalind Franklin and Mary Somerville got in common? | What have Ada Lovelace, Caroline Herschel, Rosalind Franklin and Mary Somerville got in common? |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Ada Lovelace, Marie Stopes and Rosalind Franklin are among the trailblazers whose portraits will be shown in an exhibition opening at Newcastle's Discovery Museum this Friday. | Ada Lovelace, Marie Stopes and Rosalind Franklin are among the trailblazers whose portraits will be shown in an exhibition opening at Newcastle's Discovery Museum this Friday. |
| The exhibition - Trailblazers - a celebration of remarkable women in science - opens on International Women's Day. It celebrates "the achievements of women, both living and historic, who have made a significant contribution to the science, technology and mathematics (STEM) industries." The exhibition's patron is Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, who said: | The exhibition - Trailblazers - a celebration of remarkable women in science - opens on International Women's Day. It celebrates "the achievements of women, both living and historic, who have made a significant contribution to the science, technology and mathematics (STEM) industries." The exhibition's patron is Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, who said: |
| One of my strongest memories as a child is standing in the Science Museum in Newcastle's Exhibition Park, looking at the glorious Turbinia and thinking what a fine thing it must be to be an engineer and build something so beautiful and so useful. I think it is especially fitting that now it is Discovery Museum which houses Turbinia and other examples of Northern engineering, it should celebrate the role of women in science and engineering and the contribution they can make. | One of my strongest memories as a child is standing in the Science Museum in Newcastle's Exhibition Park, looking at the glorious Turbinia and thinking what a fine thing it must be to be an engineer and build something so beautiful and so useful. I think it is especially fitting that now it is Discovery Museum which houses Turbinia and other examples of Northern engineering, it should celebrate the role of women in science and engineering and the contribution they can make. |
| 24 portraits, mostly from the National Portrait Gallery, show eminent women from the late 18th century to the present day. Caroline Herschel, the astronomer who has a crater on the moon and an asteroid named after her, is the oldest person portrayed. In 1787 she was the first woman to be granted a state pension (of £50 a year) for scientific work. She is shown as a severe-looking 92 year old, after she returned to her native Hanover, having lived lived in England for 50 years. She and Mary Somerville were the first women elected as honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society. The youngest subject is Lydia Arnold, who was 17 in 2006 when she designed a laser photonic robotics hand control at Salford University. It went on to win prizes at the BA Crest Science Fair at the Royal Society and at the Indianapolis Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. | 24 portraits, mostly from the National Portrait Gallery, show eminent women from the late 18th century to the present day. Caroline Herschel, the astronomer who has a crater on the moon and an asteroid named after her, is the oldest person portrayed. In 1787 she was the first woman to be granted a state pension (of £50 a year) for scientific work. She is shown as a severe-looking 92 year old, after she returned to her native Hanover, having lived lived in England for 50 years. She and Mary Somerville were the first women elected as honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society. The youngest subject is Lydia Arnold, who was 17 in 2006 when she designed a laser photonic robotics hand control at Salford University. It went on to win prizes at the BA Crest Science Fair at the Royal Society and at the Indianapolis Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. |
| Among the early subjects here is Ada Lovelace, who is generally regarded as being the first person to write what became a computer programme, and whose notes were used by Alan Turing a century after her death when he was developing modern computers. Her mathematical bent became apparent at a very early age, so she would not have disappointed her father, Lord Byron, who wrote of her: | Among the early subjects here is Ada Lovelace, who is generally regarded as being the first person to write what became a computer programme, and whose notes were used by Alan Turing a century after her death when he was developing modern computers. Her mathematical bent became apparent at a very early age, so she would not have disappointed her father, Lord Byron, who wrote of her: |
| I pray the gods have made her anything except poetical - it is enough to have one such fool in the family. | I pray the gods have made her anything except poetical - it is enough to have one such fool in the family. |
| Rosalind Franklin, whose pioneering x-ray crystallography work was vital to Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA, and who would have shared their Nobel Prize had she not died at the age of 37, is shown in a shadowy French hotel. Although some, like Caroline Herschel, are somewhat austere portraits, and Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw looks rather grumpy, there are also some livelier ones - the leading developmental biologist, Cheryll Tickle, for example, is portrayed smiling as she sits on the grass playing cat's cradle. | Rosalind Franklin, whose pioneering x-ray crystallography work was vital to Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA, and who would have shared their Nobel Prize had she not died at the age of 37, is shown in a shadowy French hotel. Although some, like Caroline Herschel, are somewhat austere portraits, and Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw looks rather grumpy, there are also some livelier ones - the leading developmental biologist, Cheryll Tickle, for example, is portrayed smiling as she sits on the grass playing cat's cradle. |
| As with any list, it is possible to quibble about some of the omissions – it would have been easy enough to borrow the Laing Art Gallery's Death of Hypatia, which shows the Alexandrian mathematician as she faces death at the hands of a mob of angry monks. One more glaring absence is that of the electrical engineer Hertha Ayrton, the first woman to be nominated a member of the Royal Society, and the only woman in the 20th century to win the Society's Hughes Medal. She was enormously active in encouraging women into careers in science. She also took part in all the suffrage marches, and she nursed Mrs Pankhurst and others recovering from hunger strikes in her own home. She was one of the founders of the International Federation of University Women and of the National Union of Scientific Workers, as well as the inventor of patented anti-aircraft searchlights. | As with any list, it is possible to quibble about some of the omissions – it would have been easy enough to borrow the Laing Art Gallery's Death of Hypatia, which shows the Alexandrian mathematician as she faces death at the hands of a mob of angry monks. One more glaring absence is that of the electrical engineer Hertha Ayrton, the first woman to be nominated a member of the Royal Society, and the only woman in the 20th century to win the Society's Hughes Medal. She was enormously active in encouraging women into careers in science. She also took part in all the suffrage marches, and she nursed Mrs Pankhurst and others recovering from hunger strikes in her own home. She was one of the founders of the International Federation of University Women and of the National Union of Scientific Workers, as well as the inventor of patented anti-aircraft searchlights. |
| For the exhibition, four new portraits of contemporary women in STEM fields will also be commissioned from photographer Anita Corbin and unveiled in June as part of the Festival of the North East. The Trailblazers exhibition runs until the end of September when Newcastle will be host the British Science Festival. | For the exhibition, four new portraits of contemporary women in STEM fields will also be commissioned from photographer Anita Corbin and unveiled in June as part of the Festival of the North East. The Trailblazers exhibition runs until the end of September when Newcastle will be host the British Science Festival. |
| Hazel Edwards, Manager of the Discovery Museum, said | Hazel Edwards, Manager of the Discovery Museum, said |
| It is a thrill to be able to advocate the work and lives of these remarkable women who inspire the next generation of visionary scientists and innovative engineers. Thank you to Chi Onwurah for lending her support to the exhibition and to all of our sponsors for their support, without whom we could not have achieved such an exciting programme. | It is a thrill to be able to advocate the work and lives of these remarkable women who inspire the next generation of visionary scientists and innovative engineers. Thank you to Chi Onwurah for lending her support to the exhibition and to all of our sponsors for their support, without whom we could not have achieved such an exciting programme. |
| The exhibition's opening coincides with a conference in Discovery Museum's Great Hall. The conference is aimed at young people aged 16 -19 from the region's schools and colleges and will include contributions from leading women from STEM industries and the chance to learn about career opportunities. The speakers include Fiona Cruickshank, who chairs SCM Pharma (the exhibition sponsors), Professor Isobel Pollock from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Chi Onwureh MP and Baroness Prosser from SEMTA (sector skills council for Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, which is sponsoring the conference). | The exhibition's opening coincides with a conference in Discovery Museum's Great Hall. The conference is aimed at young people aged 16 -19 from the region's schools and colleges and will include contributions from leading women from STEM industries and the chance to learn about career opportunities. The speakers include Fiona Cruickshank, who chairs SCM Pharma (the exhibition sponsors), Professor Isobel Pollock from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Chi Onwureh MP and Baroness Prosser from SEMTA (sector skills council for Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, which is sponsoring the conference). |
| Trailblazers - a celebration of remarkable women in science is on at Newcastle's Discovery Museum from March 8 until September 29 | Trailblazers - a celebration of remarkable women in science is on at Newcastle's Discovery Museum from March 8 until September 29 |
| Alan Sykes is the Guardian Northerner's roving arts specialist and a sheep farmer in the high Pennines. He Tweets here. | Alan Sykes is the Guardian Northerner's roving arts specialist and a sheep farmer in the high Pennines. He Tweets here. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. |