I've reading this news at least for the third time here on HW in this week. Nice achievement but keep it DRY
If we keep reposting the article, it won't feel so exceptional…
The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
41–50 of 70 posts
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's was definitely demanded or at least heavily expected in the 60s and 50s (when these women grew up).
Nowadays it's demanded that both husband and wife work, and it gave us the two-income trap. It's not even progress.
Nowadays both men and women have the option of finding occupations that give them the most satisfaction. You might be surprised at how many people consider this progress.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#43Nikola Tesla and Isaac Newton were virgins as well. It might be argued that a certain level of unresolved frustration can be a driving force in technical pursuits...
I would argue that if you are not hampered by sexual pursuits, it frees your brain up for technical ones. https://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheAbstinence.htm
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#44My great aunt who is a nun got a masters in Chemistry in the 1950s. She said that the only other women in her program were nuns.
Karen Armstrong
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong ) said in her memoirs that when she turned 18 in 1962 she knew she didn't want to be a wife and mother, so she figured that she must have been "called" to become a nun.
It is hard to overstate the social pressure women were under to discard any life goals besides "motherhood" for a long time. My MIL has a math degree but knew full well that she might as well put in in the shredder once she got married. It's still kind of a painful subject for her honestly.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#45Making a lifetime vow does not mean you turn your brain off. The Belgian priest, Georges Lemaître, first proposed the theory that is now known as the Big Bang and made other discoveries in astronomy and physics, and still served as a priest as well.
Sister Celine[0] is another sister who, with a PhD in math, had an important influence on algorithms to calculate explicit formulas for many recurrence relations.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#46According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller and https://www.cs.wisc.edu/2019/03/18/2759/ , she is also tied for being the first American to receive a PhD in computer science (one other person received his PhD on the same exact day). They are also potentially (it seems there's some debate) the first CS PhDs ( https://studylib.net/doc/8193211/who-earned-first-computer-s... ). Great line from that las…
The first PhD in computing was David Wheeler in 1951 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wheeler_(computer_scient...
His PhD was in Mathematics AFAIR. Also note that the Wikipedia article is missing a citation on that point and further discussion on the talk page.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#47Making a lifetime vow does not mean you turn your brain off. The Belgian priest, Georges Lemaître, first proposed the theory that is now known as the Big Bang and made other discoveries in astronomy and physics, and still served as a priest as well.
In fact I'd say it is quite the opposite.
Let's not forget that clergy was originally a ruling class, and as such, had access to higher education and enough time to think and do research. And even today, with a few exceptions, they are far from being brainwashed cultists.
Not only they have a better than average level of scientific education, they also have a surprisingly open mind. Fitting for people who spend a good part of their life studying, even if most of it is about the Bible.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#48According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kenneth_Keller and https://www.cs.wisc.edu/2019/03/18/2759/ , she is also tied for being the first American to receive a PhD in computer science (one other person received his PhD on the same exact day). They are also potentially (it seems there's some debate) the first CS PhDs ( https://studylib.net/doc/8193211/who-earned-first-computer-s... ). Great line from that las…
The first PhD in computing was David Wheeler in 1951 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wheeler_(computer_scient...
Interesting, wasn't aware!
I was pretty ignorant about this before today. What I've learned today is (1) that there are several competing claims for who has the first PhD in Computer Science (or the first PhD by an American, or Woman...), (2) all of those claims depend not on the quality of the work by the person but rather by whether something counts as "computer science" (does it have to be issued by a Computer Science department? Department with Computer Science in the name? Can the degree just say it's for Computer Science? Does it depend on the thesis topic?), and (3) for the most part none of the candidates really care too much about the distinctions about who was 1st.
But it is an interesting exercise in learning about computer scientists that I didn't know much about before.
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#49Making a lifetime vow does not mean you turn your brain off. The Belgian priest, Georges Lemaître, first proposed the theory that is now known as the Big Bang and made other discoveries in astronomy and physics, and still served as a priest as well.
i figure taking vows gives you the mental space to devote your time to academic (read contemplative) pursuits. I assume most spend their time thinking through the philosophies of divinity but science is certainly an area of philosophy that is worth their time...
Re: The first woman PhD in computer science was a nun (2013)
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nowadays it's demanded that both husband and wife work, and it gave us the two-income trap. It's not even progress.
If you have twice the labor, you can pay each person half as much (and double your profit) since consumption stays the same (to a rough approximation). Financial capitalism at its best.
What you actually see is that with two full incomes housing prices went up. That's the supply side reacting to more money sloshing around. On the demand side, when both parents work there are now expenses for childcare, prepared food & so on.
You just have increased financial insecurity because now a family must rely on two incomes. In the past, when one spouse lost their job the other might find one or go to full time employment, now both parents have to be employed to be financially stable. That isn't even progress for those who have to work for a living. For the investor class it's of course different.