Sunday, June 10, 2018

I was catching up on some reading for the day gig, and I just finished an article that I'd imagine should be pretty interesting for a variety of readers, whether you're interested in the history of science, a fan of the "Hidden Figures" movie or book, a fan of Kris Rusch's Women of Futures Past, or of Tor.com's similar Women SF writers of the 1970's ongoing articles.

Ok, so the article is in the May, 2018 issue of Physics Today, it's entitled "Domesticating Physics", written by Joanna Behrman.

The setup here is one that I wasn't aware of in a conscious sense, but once Joanna linked it into her article, the light bulb went off. Which is always a delight, a writer that can turn on the light bulb for me in just a couple paragraphs.

What Joanna points out so well is that there was this magic moment in the early 20th century, when electricification of the household was taking place, where physics (at this point almost entirely classical physics) training wasn't the abstraction that it can so often appear to be. People, in large part women since at that time they were the dominant market for household goods, found it essential to have a good idea of just how these new electric appliances worked.

For safety, for use, for maintenance, among others. That's the main point of the article.

However, Joanna weaves another thread throughout: this was the part of the physics field where women physicists, practical applied women physicists in particular, found an application area they could work in productively. One example that Joanna illuminates is that of Madalyn Avery, a physics teacher at what eventually became Kansas State University.

Highly recommended as a window into a historical era that may otherwise have disappeared simply because it appears so mundane.

Hmm, one last thought: Steampunk, historical fic, romance, western, any writers interested in the early 20th, late 19th century, I'd imagine there're quite a few jumping off points hiding in this one...

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Please keep it on the sane side. There are an awful lot of places on the internet for discussions of politics, money, sex, religion, etc. etc. et bloody cetera. In this time and place, let us talk about something else, and politely, please.