Quick: name a famous female scientist. If you said "Marie Curie," you’re not alone. In fact, a lot of people can’t think of a single other example. Well, England's Royal Society is fixin’ to rectify that. On Friday, October 19th, it’s sponsoring a Wiki-editing marathon for articles about women in science.
Wikipedia is the go-to source for information on pretty much everything. But its coverage is a little light when it comes to the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and math. So the Royal Society is looking for volunteers with wi-fi and a bit of Wiki knowhow to create or enhance entries on female scientists.
Suggestions include Lilian Bland, the first woman to build and fly her own aircraft; Martha Ludwig, who helped solve the first protein crystal structure done in the US; and Barbara Crawford Johnson, the only woman to serve on the NASA team that engineered the moon landing.
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You can take part in the effort using Twitter. The hashtag is #WomenSciWP. That’s women-S-C-I-W-P. So give Marie Curie a well-earned rest and help other women in science get the wiki-recognition they deserve.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
