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Five fun facts about women in tech

In Women’s Month, Google shares two collections on its Google Arts & Culture platform to discover curiosities and facts related to women who made history in the world of technology and innovation.

From space exploration to medicine, women around the world have made essential contributions in the fields of Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics. (STEM). However, historically these races have had a low female participation. In fact, according to UNESCO, in Latin America women make up an average of 32% of STEM students and graduates.

With the aim of making visible the history of outstanding personalities in this field, the Google Arts & Culture platform presents the collection “Women in STEM”, freely available and free of charge, which includes a list of five curious facts to publicize great contributions of women around the world:

space women. Women play an essential role in space exploration. It should be noted that Svetlana Savitskaya and Mae C. Jemison were instrumental in the work of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for nearly a century.

creative minds. The first US patent in history was granted to a woman inventor of machinery, Sybilla Masters.. She created a new way of grinding corn, something that changed farming practices. This is just one of the many facts that are highlighted on the site, such as the fact that women obtained more than 5,500 patents between 1865 and 1900 or that Mary was the first American woman to receive a patent from the government of that country for having developed a new technique of weaving straw with silk and thread to make hats.

cracking codes. Nearly 75% of the 10,000-strong team that worked at Bletchley Park (England’s military facility where codebreaking work was carried out) during World War II were women. In this regard, the history of Joan Clarke, the cryptanalyst who helped crack the secret code of the Nazis.

Curiosities. Marie Curiewinner of two Nobel prizes, was the first woman to be appointed professor at a French university. During her years of research, she was known to carry test tubes of radium (radioactive chemical element) in the pocket of her lab coat. Her recognition is such that in 2019 Google announced the arrival of an international and private submarine cable, which connects the United States with the region from Chile, which they decided to name “Curie” in honor of the renowned scientist.

the first programmer. Ada Lovelace She is known as the first programmer in history, for her contribution to the analytical engine, devised by Charles Babbage. Lovelace wrote the first algorithm intended for the machine that the mathematician designed but never built. Babbage conceived a machine of a mechanical nature, about 10 meters wide and 30 long, which would be powered by a steam engine.

Google Arts & Culture’s “Women in Culture” collection invites you to learn about the stories, inventions, creations and projects of women around the world. It showcases the lives of suffragettes who fought for women’s suffragettes and equal rights, pop culture icons, athletes, scientists who are using science to change the world, and much more.

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