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 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.
(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
Open 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!
Archaeologists 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 winners of the 
My 9 year old son fell in love with all the aspects of this program - the simple but still…
Cara, Parent