SGU Episode 572
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| SGU Episode 572 |
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| June 25th 2016 |
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| (brief caption for the episode icon) |
| Skeptical Rogues |
| S: Steven Novella |
B: Bob Novella |
C: Cara Santa Maria |
| Quote of the Week |
The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks. |
| Links |
| Download Podcast |
| Show Notes |
| Forum Discussion |
Introduction
You're listening to the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, your escape to reality.
S: Hello, and welcome to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. Today is Monday, June 20th, 2016; and this is your host, Steven Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella,
Forgotten Superheroes of Science (0:54)
S: Bob, why don't you start us off with Forgotten Superheroes of Science.
B: Sure. This week, for Forgotten Superheroes of Science, I'll be talking about Mary Edwards, 1750 to 1850. She was among the very few women in the late 1700's to actually earn a living from scientific work. Edwards' husband, John, had taken on some work from the British Nautical Almanac for extra money for his family.
His job, among thirty four other all-male human computers (as you know, back in years ago, a computer was actually a person who was doing computing), their job was to study the Moon and the Sun and the planets at various times of the day, and notice accurately as possible their positions in the sky. Now these nautical almanacs were created every year, and they were used for (obviously) navigation at sea. And he did this from 1773 to 1784 – the year he died.
Now Mary Edwards then wrote to the Almanac people asking if she could continue the work to help support her family, 'cause, as it turns out, after her husband's death, they lost the house that they lived in, they lost pretty much everything. The only thing the family got was debt, this massive debt. She was in dire straits. She asked if she could continue the work that he was doing.
And at least according to some sources, the claim is that she actually did most of the calculations for her husband for all those years. It was really her that was doing ...
S: 'Cause she was doing it anyway!
B: Yeah, she was doing it anyway! So I think – it was hard to get a sense if they believed her or not. I mean, remember, we're talking the late 1700's here. But I think after taking on the work, it became kind of obvious. Over the years, she became known for her skill and her accuracy, and she actually took on double the work that her husband did, 'cause this was really her main job, whereas he was doing this just for extra work.
And I think she actually took on so much work that some times she was doing half the almanac herself. So she was doing a ton of work. And she was so good and so successful, and it was able to take on even extra work, that after six or seven years, she actually paid off all of her debt. So it went incredibly well for her.
She also, she trained her daughter as well, and together, these two Edwards women performed this vital role for like, fifty-five years. They made these vital contributions to this almanac. So remember Mary Edwards. Mention her to your friends, perhaps when discussing the obliquity of the ecliptic, or perhaps, ecliptic rectangular geocentric coordinates.
S: Got that on the first try.
B: Yes!
C: Yeah, nice!
(Bob laughs) (Cara laughs)
S: Good job.
News Items
Electric Plane (3:29)
Naturopathic Licensure (12:44)
Black Holes and Dark Matter (23:11)
(Commercial at 33:55)
What's the Word (35:20)
- Crepuscular
Interview with Michael Marshall (39:40)
(Commercial at 1:02:23)
Science or Fiction (1:03:40)
(Science or Fiction music)
It's time for Science or Fiction
Skeptical Quote of the Week (1:17:37)
S: And until next week, this is your Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.
S: The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is produced by SGU Productions, dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking. For more information on this and other episodes, please visit our website at theskepticsguide.org, where you will find the show notes as well as links to our blogs, videos, online forum, and other content. You can send us feedback or questions to info@theskepticsguide.org. Also, please consider supporting the SGU by visiting the store page on our website, where you will find merchandise, premium content, and subscription information. Our listeners are what make SGU possible.
Today I Learned:
- This is a very rare episode with just Steve, Bob, and Cara
References
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