At just age 29 she has made a big place
for herself in history. Katherine Bouman’s expertise is in computer
algorithms, and she created one that has helped give humankind its first
image of a black hole. A century ago Einstein’s theory of general
relativity offered the idea that when enough matter was crammed into one
place the force of gravity would be so overpowering that it would
swallow everything including space, time, light. The prospect seems to
have spooked him into doubling down against the possibility of its
existence.
Years later when the phenomenon actually
got the name black hole, it is said to have been ‘inspired’ by the
eponymous Calcutta prison which, allegedly, prisoners never left alive.
Today we have an image of this spooky phenomenon – couldn’t a black hole
swallow up our universe someday? – thanks to intrepid scientists like
Bouman from across the world, who collaborated to convert telescope
observations of an enormous galaxy 55 million light years away where the
black hole casts a shadow as big as our solar system, into a magical
image, that is being variously characterised as Eye of Sauron, Bagel
Galactica and Golden Doughnut.
How far we have come and how far we have
to go. In more neurosexist times women’s smaller brains were seen as
proof of their inferior intellect. Even today there are social barriers
to women’s progress in STEM fields. Exemplars like Bouman make the
strongest case for uprooting these barriers.
Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.
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