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.
Posted by Paul A. Rubin at 1:32 PM
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4 comments:

  1. FlorianMarch 2, 2011 at 5:59 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul A. RubinMarch 2, 2011 at 7:39 AM

    @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.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FlorianMarch 13, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    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

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paul A. RubinMarch 13, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    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. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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