By Amanda Fernandez & Melina Kamaritis, Seniors When you hear someone talk about the theory of relativity, who comes to mind, Einstein or Mileva Maric? It’s almost a knee jerk reaction to say “Albert Einstein.” Well, he didn’t do it all alone, he just took all the credit. Mileva met Einstein while studying the physics-mathematics section of the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich. Being the only female allowed to attend this prestigious institution that was strictly only open to male students, Mileva was dedicated to her studies and motivated to be top of her class. On the other hand, Einstein barely attended lectures and relied on Mileva to help him study. Her dedication to helping Einstein put her behind on her own education leading to her failing the final exam.
After failing, Mileva was forced to go back home to Serbia to her family because she was now pregnant with Einstein’s first child. Her and Einstein remained in contact through letters, however, he never once attempted to visit to see his child or even asked about his son. Translations of letters sent between the two physicist bring evidence that, in regard to their work on relative motion, Einstein gave Mileva credit when saying that experimental evidence was “bringing our work on relative motion to a successful conclusion!” However, after the publication of theory, Mileva Maric’s name was nowhere on the piece. To read more about Mileva in depth go to: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-forgotten-life-of-einsteins-first-wife/ Rosalind Franklin, a woman few talk about and know little of her huge, impactful work on today’s world of science. What did she do, you ask? Are you familiar with a little thing called, DNA? You know, the thing that literally codes and determines what we are? Yeah, that. Now, one may say “NO! It was Watson and Crick.” And although they were awarded the Nobel prize for their research on DNA (Along with Maurice Wilkins), many seem to forget the years of tedious labor Franklin put into the research for the DNA. Raymond Gosling, a PhD student working under the guidance of Rosalind Franklin, took the incredibly famous and important Photo 51. This photo was then given to Crick by Wilkins without either Franklin or Gosling’s permission. Although Wilkins did hire Franklin, it is still a big subject of controversy on whether he could have given the picture away without either of the scientists’ permissions. With this image, Watson and Crick were able to prove the hypothesis that the DNA had a double helix shape. They used Franklin’s hard work to make this discovery and accepted the Nobel prize which she could never accept because she died, at 38 years old, due to the ovarian cancer she got while completing her research. Rosalind Franklin gave her life to science and was never given the recognition she deserve. So on this Women's History month, let us give her the recognition she deserves.
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Amanda FernandezHi MTV and welcome to my crib. I'm Amanda Fernandez, and I am very into all types of cinematography and love analyzing movies. I have a pretty decent Kermit the Frog impression and like to pull it out to relieve tension. _____________________________ |