1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: Hey there, Hi there, How they're welcome to short Stuff, 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:12,319 Speaker 1: the shorter stuffed version of stuff you should know, starring Chuck, 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: Jerry and me Josh. This is short stuff on short 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: stuff I do, which is why I despise it. Oh 5 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: you doing well? I am doing well. I love talking science. 6 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: I also love talking history, and I really love talking 7 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: hissed sigh as it's called. And I love talking about 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: um undersung women in history and science. For sure. Chuck 9 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: kicks all those boxes. And what's sad is you could 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: have just said women in science because almost across the board, um, 11 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: women in science are are undersong or completely unsung. What 12 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: about Mary Curie? I mean she's such an outlier, Yeah, 13 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: because like that's the first name that pops into your 14 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: head for a reason, right, and it's like, oh, well, 15 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: she must have been the only woman scientists in the 16 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 1: in the world. No, that's not the case. Supposedly, there 17 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: is a longstanding tradition in science of the men in 18 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: science taking credit for the work of the women. Whether 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: it's something is like outright fraudulent, is like just basically 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: taking someone's work and not giving them credit because you 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: can get away with it because you're a man and 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: the other person was a woman or just not giving 23 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: due credit. And over time, with history favoring men, typically 24 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: at least Western history, Um, the original person who laid 25 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: the foundation for the woman, um will just kind of 26 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: be lost to time. And this is what's called something 27 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: something called the Matilda effect. Yeah, and this is very 28 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: evident in science. There's a couple of sort of horrifying 29 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: UM statistics that they found here. One is that there 30 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: was a science of big journal that changed their review process, 31 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: you know, reviewing things. Are we going to publish it? 32 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: Are we not? And they switched there's to leave out 33 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: the names of the author, so you don't even know 34 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: who it is, male or female. And just doing that, uh, 35 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: the acceptance rate for women's reports rose almost eight percent. 36 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,639 Speaker 1: And Uh. Then a study in two thousand thirteen showed 37 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: that the abstracts you know when you google online and 38 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: you read like the abstract of a science science paper, 39 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: it's like sort of like a summary. I guess, Um, 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: they were seen as uh being of a higher quality 41 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: if the author was male and wrote about things stereotypically 42 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: you would think of as male subjects like physics or 43 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: math or something. Yeah, and this is in two tho. Right, 44 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: so it's clearly still going on. And like I said, also, 45 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,839 Speaker 1: it's a long standing tradition. And um, it was kind 46 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: of given this name, the Matilda effect, back in by 47 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 1: end a storian of science from Cornell named Margaret Rossiter, 48 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: and she named it Matilda Effect after a woman named 49 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: Matilda Jostle Engage who was an abolitionist and suffragists. And 50 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: she had written an essay in eightee called Women as 51 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: an Inventor, which is basically like it is straight up 52 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: b s the way that women scientists are just being 53 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: completely left out of history. She had a lot of 54 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: foresight at the time, um, and and called this out 55 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: and it didn't really get anywhere with it, but at 56 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: least documented it as far back as before the turn 57 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: of the last century that this was a problem in 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: an issue. And so this this um, this a hundred 59 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: years later, Margaret Rossiter kind of came up with this 60 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: thing called the Matilda effect. And there's a lot a 61 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: lot of instances in history. It's not sporadic, it's not 62 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: you know, kind of scatter shot like, there are a 63 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: lot of instances in history of women not getting due 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: credit for the work that they did. That um established 65 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: a field that created multiple fields UM or that their 66 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: their work grew to be misunderstood and almost kind of scorned. 67 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: And that last one in particular, is very much embodied 68 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: by a woman named Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards. That's right. Uh. 69 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: She was a woman who UM. She was the first 70 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: woman accepted into a school of science, which at the time, 71 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: the m I T. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was male only, 72 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: and they said, we'll do a little test and see 73 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: if this lady can handle m I T. And she 74 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: was like great, I handled it. UM. She was one 75 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: of the first female chemists in the US. UM. She well, 76 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: her her largest contribution. I guess what she's remembered most 77 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,679 Speaker 1: for is her contribution to domestic science a k a. Homeck, 78 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: which just saying that some people still might dismiss that 79 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: as a soft science or non science, but it's not 80 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: true because that encompasses everything from hygienic standards in the 81 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: home to um the you know, the clothes we wear 82 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: being safe and the food we eat being healthy. And 83 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: before she came along, not a lot of people were 84 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: doing this, and it took her going to Vassar College, UM, 85 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: which is it still an all female college, Vassar I 86 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 1: think actually is yeah? Is it? Uh? She got a 87 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: degree in chemistry in eighteen seventy and then that's when 88 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: m I. T said let me just see if she 89 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 1: can handle this, and she got a Bachelor of Science 90 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: and chemistry from there in eighteen seventy three, and then 91 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 1: immediately started working like studying pollution and sanitary chemistry and 92 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: things like that, which not a lot of people were 93 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: doing it at the time. No, she was almost the first, 94 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: if not the first person to say, Okay, we're all 95 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: like eating food and drinking water and um. Has anybody 96 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: stopped and asked, like, is the food we're eating in 97 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: the water we're drinking healthy and impure? Is that toxic? H? 98 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: What's the relation to um pollution? What's the relation to 99 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: indus tree? Um? She started asking questions and then in 100 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: addition to asking questions, you started doing research and study. 101 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: And she came up with this field called o ecology 102 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: o e k ology, and it was the basis for 103 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: what we recognized now as ecology or the study of 104 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: the environment UM. And she was the first one to 105 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: to to think about this back in I believe the 106 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,559 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies UM and it went along for five years 107 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: and m I T by this time she was a 108 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: um UH an instructor at m I T. And m 109 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: I T said, this sounds crack pot and whack stopped 110 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: talking about this. We we They literally forbade her to 111 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: talk about oh ecology for a year and so her 112 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: her this discipline that she launched lasted for all of 113 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: five years and just kind of frustrated by that, she 114 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: turned her attention instead to home economics, which was basically 115 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: taking this idea rather than studying like the water in 116 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: the air and all of that, studying the um the 117 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: results of the water in the air, like the food 118 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: we put in, and like the surroundings we live in 119 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: UM and how they impact our health and how they 120 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: can be made better. All Right, we're gonna take a 121 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: break and we're gonna come back and talk a little 122 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: bit more about She about how she managed to bring 123 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: science into the household right after this. Alright, so bringing 124 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: science into the home environment was very different on the 125 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: household level. To do that at the time, it was 126 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: it was an unusual thing that she knew was important. 127 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: It was a big passion of hers. Uh. She also 128 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: you know, homeck also is cooking and cleaning and sewing 129 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: and and things like that. And it's not like she 130 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: issued those things, but she was like, you know, women 131 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: are already in the home doing these things, so why 132 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,239 Speaker 1: don't I bring some science to it and talk about 133 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: having sanitary conditions and organizing the household and raising a 134 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: healthy family with science based techniques. Because, like I said, 135 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: it was at the time, and this is in the 136 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: you know, late I guess, uh, late nineteenth century, right 137 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: when she started out right at the turn. Yeah yeah, 138 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: so uh. I mean she has gotten some pushback over 139 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: the years from feminists, but I think they got it wrong, 140 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: you know, man, from what I saw it, they got 141 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: it really wrong. Any And like, if you criticize um 142 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: Ellen Richards as anti feminists by creating home MEC, it 143 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: seems like you just haven't really dug in very deeply 144 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: to researcher, because she was a proto feminist to the 145 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: first degree. Yeah, Like it would have been really easy 146 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: at the time to say, as a as a progressive 147 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: of to say, well, you know, women ditch the household 148 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: and get out there and try and take the man's job. 149 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: But she she knew the reality of things. I think 150 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: and she wanted to uplift UH, what women were doing 151 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: in the household instead of saying, no, ditch all that 152 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: and leave it behind to go take a quote unquote 153 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: man's job, Like what you're doing is important, and I 154 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: want to uplift that and bring science to it. Well. 155 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: And not only did did was it important? She also 156 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: realized that that was the reality of the situation, right 157 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: like you, I think something like nineties seven percent of 158 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: women at the time UM didn't go to college. They 159 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: just they they got married and they became homemakers. So 160 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: that's what she had to work with. So she was 161 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: trying to UM, like you said, uplift women in that sense, 162 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: not necessarily because you know she was. She was saying, 163 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: this is a woman's lot. It was, this is what 164 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: we're working with, so I'm going to try to make 165 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: it better. She also very strongly advocated for women to 166 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: be college educated. She thought that that should just be 167 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: standard practice UM. And she actually set up a lab, 168 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: a woman's lab at m I T to teach chemistry 169 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: to UM young women who were coming into college UM. 170 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,439 Speaker 1: And the lab was only open for a few years 171 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: because from her efforts, m I T started to accept 172 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: women into the general the general population. It wasn't like 173 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: a special track any longer. But she set up a 174 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: lab to teach women chemistry and she did it free. 175 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: She didn't get any money from it. She and she 176 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: taught chemistry for years for for no charge, so that 177 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: these um young women could learn chemistry. Yeah. And you know, 178 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: despite all this, she's um, I don't know about forgotten, 179 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: but largely forgotten in history, especially in science as a 180 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: real pioneer, uh and validating the home economic movement and 181 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: bringing women into more traditionally male fields of science. And 182 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: she doesn't get nearly enough recognition. So uh no, especially also, 183 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,120 Speaker 1: I mean like she was she was a pioneer the 184 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: concept in the study of water quality and like that's 185 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: that's huge she was. She had a really deep and 186 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: broad scientific career, so I know, she definitely doesn't get 187 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: her to you. Yeah, like today she would be on 188 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: the front lines in Flint, Michigan, in in newspapers and 189 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: on TV shows, but back then she was discounted because 190 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: it was kitchen stuff. Yep. So hats off to Ellen 191 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: Richards for being just a total top notch scientist. Absolutely, 192 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: and uh, if you want to know more about her. 193 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: Go check out this article on how stuff Works. How 194 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: about that agreed? Uh, well, that's short stuff. Send us 195 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: an email if you like, send it off to Stuff 196 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 1: Podcast at how stuff works dot com.