Ada Lovelace Day

As you can see from my blog, I'm pretty new to this blogging thing but I'm willing to give it a go for a good cause....

I've listed Rosalind Franklin as the heroine on the site but its less about her work and more about how she is placed in history and all those women scientists who are out there working as she did and possibly holding that vital key to a seemingly insurmountable problem.

I'm not saying that Watson and Crick were good or bad... thats not what this is about. It is about recognising a new point of view.

Rosalind came from a different angle to try something new and found a new representation that no one had ever thought of before. There was still interpretations to be made and new discoveries to put into place but her work helped others take steps forward sooner.

Aren't these concepts at the heart of all Scientific endeavour? Experimentation, Consultation, Collaboration, Discovery, Innovation.
Aren't these also attributes that all society should celebrate in all fields?

I think Ada Lovelace Day is not so much about the lack of recognition of women in the early days of Science (and even in the present) but more about recognising the contirbution that another pair of eyes, a fresh outlook and something just a little bit different can make to remarkable discoveries.

So lets try and seek out those quiet achievers - male and female (but of course females more!) - who put in their smaller contributions to a wide goal. As a Science Communicator my goal is to see Science appear in the news for more than a 'feel scared' reason and more for a human endevour. As an Australian I would like to see our Innovators, Researchers and Thinkers held in the same adoration as our sporting and reality TV stars. As a Science nut I would like to see more of our communities becoming Science literate.
As a human being I would love to see a world where those discoveries that improve standards of living or environmental protection be available for all human kind.

High ideal I know but everybody's got to have a vision...

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!