Unsung

To kick off the first official post for SheThought, we launch on Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science. Ada Lovelace was the world’s first computer programmer, a task even more impressive considering it was the 19th century, and she did it without the machine even being built!

It may just reflect on the poor quality of the South Carolina school system, but I had never heard of Ada Lovelace. And then it occurred to me that all of the inventors I could name were male. It makes sense to me that more of them would be male, but ALL OF THEM?

When I first got involved in skepticism, critical thinking, and/or atheism, the same thing happened. Almost ALL of the “names” were male. There were a few well-known females, but nowhere near what it should be. The longer I was involved, the more women I found. Women who were producing brilliant work, but without the venue to display it.

SheThought is that venue. And to kick things off, I solicited a list of women TODAY who are inspiring others to think critically. In no order, here they are:

From KO Myers, of Grassroots Skeptics:

Eugenie Scott. Her National Center for Science Education works right on the front lines. They’re fighting to protect vulnerable young people by insulating our public schools from the influence of anti-scientific dogma.

Desiree Schell. She works tirelessly to spread critical thinking beyond the skeptical community, and she’s dedicated to transforming the skepticism from a social movement into an active force for education and outreach.

From Chris Busch:

My skeptic heroine is Robynn McCarthy, aka Swoopy. When I first started searching for podcasts to listen to, I stumbled across her Skepticality show that she hosts with Derek. I was familiar with Skeptic magazine, so I downloaded a few episodes, listened, and was blown away. I had always been a “skeptic”, but I had never heard anything explain and discuss issues quite like this. Since then I’ve listened to lots of other podcasts on skepticism (many suggested by Swoopy herself), read lots of books on the topic, and started annoying my friends with my newfound knowledge. (This is a good thing, I swear.) If it weren’t for Swoopy and her podcast, I sincerely doubt that I would have ever actively sought out this kind of thing- she made it easy. I think lots of other people would say the same thing, and I think that’s a huge accomplishment for her. Thanks!

From Laurie Tarr, of Rational Moms:

Eugenie Scott is an amazing lady!

From Desiree Schell, of Skeptically Speaking:

Kylie Sturgess is my skeptical heroine.

She not only relentlessly promotes other people’s work, she researches the heck out of everything, and refuses to open her mouth without knowing what she’s talking about. She makes theories and concepts accessible without dumbing them down, and explores them in a way that invites others to do the same. She promotes inclusivity in a way that few public skeptics do.

She’s also the first prominent female skeptic that really jumped out at me as someone I could relate to on more than an academic level. Her work brings more to the table than just facts and citations; her humour, warmth and intensity make the driest study fascinating.

From The Beautiful Kind: (NSFW)

I think www.ziztur.com is awesome! She’s a personal friend of mine, located in St Louis. She conducts hands on experiments, visits a different church every Sunday, and just got her Ph.D.! She’s a Jill of all Trades!

From Barbara Drescher, of ICBS Everywhere:

Does Velma (Scooby Doo) count? Okay, then: Because she never fell for the ghost crap, but she had an open mind. The evidence: she ran, too.

From Pieter Breitner:

Harriet Hall. I adore the woman.

From Phil N. Mole:

Barbara Ehrenreich, Wendy Kaminer, Katha Pollitt, Natalie Angier, and Carol Tavris, to name a few. They’re all wicked smart, and they all can write anyone under the table

From Joya Beebe:

I don’t actually know if Dorothy Parker counts as a skeptic/rationalist, though she was certainly a “critical thinker.” I also don’t know if she counts as a heroine. But darn funny in her “critical thinking.”

From Jason Wichlacz:

Velma is awesome, Swoopy was a big one for me. Eugenie Scott. Susie Bright and Camile Paglia in ways. Greta Christina.

From Ben Radford:

Ellie Arroway, scientist/atheist heroine of “Contact.”

From James Spiller:

Kylie Sturgess, whose enthusiastic personality and hard work with Podblack, and podcasts, keeps raised the profile of critical thinking in the blogosphere.

Swoopy – one of the podcasters (with Derek in Skepticality) to have opened the door to Dawkins for me.

Ariane Sherine – I joined FB to support the Atheist Bus Campaign. :)

Heidi Anderson – The honesty and frankness with which she raises her children is, short of producing a television program seen by millions (and how many of us get that chance), the best possible difference anyone can make.

Maria Maltseva for her  interview with the Discovery Institute for Skepticality. :)

From Maria Maltseva:

Kylie Sturgess — for being not only appropriately skeptical, but brave.

And Heidi Anderson, for too many reasons to mention.

From Kate Holden-Laudig:

James Randi for his stance against bigotry in Florida and his exposure of Peter Popoff. Aww, shit. heroine. That would be myself. :D

From Volker Steibler:

Lisa Lampanelli