Credit for the Work

In our research for OpenSTEM material we often find (or rediscover) that the “famous” person we all know is not the person who actually first did whatever it was. This applies to inventors, scientists, explorers.

Marco Polo was not the first to go East and hang out with the heirs of Genghis Khan, Magellan did not actually circumnavigate the world (he died on the way, in the Philippines), and so on.

In the field of science this has also happened quite often and it’s quite frustrating (to put it mildly). It’s important that the people who do the work credit the credit – and particularly not other people claiming (or otherwise getting, such as through a Nobel prize) that work as their own. That’s distinctly uncool.

Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was an accomplished British chemist and X-ray crystallographer. It was her work that first showed the double-helix form of DNA. Watson & Crick (with Wilkins) ran with it (without her permission even) and they only mentioned her name in a footnote. As we all know, Watson, Crick and Wilkins received the Nobel prize for “discovering DNA”. False history.

X-ray diffraction image of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule
X-ray diffraction image of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule, taken 1952 by Raymond Gosling, commonly referred to as “Photo 51”, during work by Rosalind Franklin on the structure of DNA
(Raymond Gosling/King’s College London)

While it’s not exclusively women who get a bad deal here, there are a fair number, and the research shows that this is often as a result of some very arrogant other people in their surroundings who grab and run with the work. Sexism and chauvinism have played a big role there.

An article by Katherine Handcock at A Mighty Girl provides a short bio of 15 Women Scientists – many of which you may never have heard of, but all of which did critical work. She writes:

For centuries, women have made important contributions to the sciences, but in many cases, it took far too long for their discoveries to be recognized — if they were acknowledged at all. And too often, books and academic courses that explore the history of science neglect the remarkable, ground breaking women who changed the world. In fact, it’s a rare person, child or adult, who can name more than two or three female scientists from history — and, even in those instances, the same few names are usually mentioned time and again.

Read the full article at A Might Girl: Those Who Dared To Discover: 15 Women Scientists You Should Know

OSDC 2015 talk: Skulling Around – Hands on History

Here’s the video of Claire’s talk at the Open Source Developers’ Conference 2015 (November) in Hobart, TAS.

homo-ergaster-frontOpen source has opened up huge opportunities for archaeologists. As well as high quality tools for research, we can use open source to engage kids with the past. Addressing the new National Curriculum, we use 3D printed fossil skulls and replicas of archaeological material to give kids a hands-on experience, making the past Funky and Fun!

Arjen's Diamond Mind v2 3D-printerArchaeologists are usually very good at sharing knowledge with each other and the wider world. Under Creative Commons licences many files are made available, including scans of fossil skulls, artefacts and other archaeological material. Using a suite of open source tools, including a 3D printer, a series of interactive experiences for school children has been developed allowing them hands-on involvement with this material.

The kids love examining the replica fossil skulls in their hands and learning about the changing features through time, as well as learning to measure and compare in a very real sense. These experiences are modern “we had 3D printed stuff in History class!”, engaging and fun for students and teachers alike, bringing the past alive.


This talk refers to some of the materials used in the OpenSTEM Introduction to Archaeology and Fossils Workshop. We have been fortunate to find quite a few more fossil skull models, and have already printed some of those also. The “family” is growing!

OpenSTEM also has an Integrated History/Geography Program for Primary Schools (full set of resources for F-6, including teacher handbooks, student workbooks and assessment guides), available from term 1, 2016.


There were many awesome talks at OSDC 2015 (Youtube playlist). See also the OSDC 2015 program overview.

2015 Science in Society Journalism Awards winners announced

CONFIRMED: The Last Great Prediction Of The Big Bang! | Medium

Seventy years ago, we had taken fascinating steps forward in our conception of the Universe. Rather than living in a Universe governed by absolute space and absolute time, we lived in one where space and time were relative, depending on the observer. We no longer lived in a Newtonian Universe, but rather one governed by general relativity, where matter and energy cause the fabric of spacetime itself to curve.

[…]

[Now] A leftover glow unlike any other — of neutrinos — has finally been seen.

Read the full article.

“Two degrees above absolute zero was never so hot.”

Press coverage for OpenSTEM Robotics Program at Grovely State School

BrisbaneNorthWestNews-2015-08-05-GrovelyRobotics-1-50
A journalist and photographer from Brisbane’s North-West News visited Grovely State School, providing this very nice write-up. This is a great acknowledgement of all the work and achievements by the students in the senior classes on electronics soldering, robotics and programming!

BrisbaneNorthWestNews-2015-08-05-GrovelyRobotics-2-50
It’s been fabulous working with the students and staff at Grovely, and everybody is having a great time – almost forgetting that the OpenSTEM Robotics Program is real curriculum related school work rather than just an incursion experience!

Serendipitously, the Queensland government has recently announced an intention to focus specifically on programming and robotics in education:

“Our goal is to make sure our students are at the cutting edge of innovation through the development of skills to become the technology architects of the digital age,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, “This will include an assessment of coding and computer science, as well as early stage robotics, something I firmly believe should be a part of our education system.”

Advance Queensland’ package announcement (July 2015)

We’d love to work with your school too, contact us today! We’re  currently accepting expressions of interest for the second half of Term 4 (2015) and 2016, and we’re also happy to visit you to meet and discuss your ideas and needs. We love our Robotics Program, but we do much more!