Link: Grandma Got STEM

Grandma Got STEM blog. The current top post is My “Hidden Figures”: Three Octogenarian Indian Women with Particle Physics, Python Programming and Music. These women were determined! And, it goes without saying, incredibly smart and capable.

Why this blog?

Perhaps, like me, you are tired of hearing people say “how would you explain that to your grandmother?” when they probably mean something like “How would you explain the idea in a clear, compelling way so that people without a technical background can understand you?” In other words, “How would you explain that to a novice?”

You may also have heard the saying “That’s so easy, my grandmother could understand it.”

I would like to counter the implication that grannies (gender + maternity + age) might not easily pick up on technical/theoretical ideas. As a start, I’m planning public awareness / art projects using grandmothers’ pictures+names+connections to STEM. This blog is where I’ll collect the info.

I get pretty tired of "Even your mom could understand it!" from young whippersnappers engineers that weren't even born when I got my Computer Science degree. When I saw this blog, I thought about my mom (who is indeed a grandmother), with her Masters in Biology and who has been a patent examiner in microbiology since 1989. Last I heard she might retire soon, in her late 70's.

via siderea