Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Math and Science Can Be Sexy

I just tripped over the following facts (one of which I already knew):
  • Hedy Lamarr, vintage Hollywood hottie, co-invented frequency hopping, used by cell phones today.
  • Danica McKellar, teen age TV star (and successful actress since), is co-author of the Chayes–McKellar–Winn theorem (as an undergraduate math major).  (This one I knew.)
  • Mayim Bialik, who as a teen had the title role in the TV series "Blossom" and now plays a neurobiologist on "The Big Bang Theory", actually has a Ph.D. in neurobiology.
Now we just need some sexy male mathematicians and scientists (besides me, that is) to balance the list.

4 comments:

  1. To sum the whole story up: A "win for Hollywood" or a "loss for the World of Science"?

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  2. @Florian: I'd say a win for both -- they make good "recruiting posters" for science. Now we just need an actress turned engineer (or vice versa) to complete the female side of the "STEM is Sexy" list.

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  3. PS: I just stumbled upon this quote by Harvard alumni Natalie Portman (BA degree in psychology): "I don't care if [college] ruins my career. I'd rather be smart than a movie star." (Source: Wikipedia)
    PPS: Why I read a Wikipedia article on Natalie Portman? - http://plixi.com/p/83549079

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  4. Okay, so why would somebody ostensibly smart go to Harvard?

    Thanks for the link to the photo. Nothing against Ms. Portman, but we have a 1-0 lead over Harvard in Jimmy Stewarts, we had Brooke Shields, and we're one up in Supermen (Dean Cain '88).

    Oh, and those 26 titles: I assume they're just counting men's basketball. :-)

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