Popularizing science without gender bias
This hybrid event is the 10th SCGES webinar and is the participation of the Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science to the Global Women’s Breakfast.
The event will be held in hybrid format (online and in-person) form on February 27th, 2024.
Venue; Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP), 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris
Agenda
8:30 AM CET (in person only): Global Women Breakfast
9:30 AM CET (in person only): Group visit of Maison Poincaré led by Sylvie Benzoni-Gavage, IHP director
10:45 AM – 12:45 CET (in person and online): Webinar: Popularizing science without gender biasThe presentations concentrate on two specific challenges:
How to contribute popularising mathematics in a museum among the youth of all origins and gender?
How to write an astronomy book for men and women and why is it important?
Speakers:
Sylvie Benzoni-Gavage, professor of mathematics at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and director of the Institut Henri Poincaré (Paris, France)
Maison Poincaré, how to create a museum about mathematics in the light of gender gap issues.
Designing a whole museum about mathematics is tremendous endeavour, in which pitfalls regarding gender gap are lurking. If we are to contribute popularising mathematics among the youth of all origins and gender, we must address the issue of which image of mathematicians we aim at showcasing. Geniuses, mostly white men, winning prizes and medals for their outstanding results? Or a more accessible and more balanced world of mathematics, made of diverse people cooperating, of different backgrounds and making their way in a wide variety of manners? The alternative seems easy to settle. Let us talk about it!
Léa Griton, associate professor at Sorbonne University (Paris, France) and researcher in astrophysics at Paris Observatoire PSL
Writing a pop science astronomy book for everyone: questions I asked myself & answers I gave to others
When Léa was solicited by Quanto/EPFL Press to write a book about scientific exploration of the Solar System, the first thing that came to her mind was: why should I write a book? Writing a book is very time-consuming and, as a young (mum and) scientist, time is something rare and precious. However, she also thought that, when she was a teenager herself, reading books about science helped a lot in deciding to pursue scientific studies. Moreover, most of the popular science books she could read were written by men, for instance Hubert Reeves or Jean-Pierre Luminet. She accepted to write the book as a challenge: how to write an astronomy book for men and women? why is it important? In her presentation, Léa will explain the choices she made with Quanto for “En quête de planètes” and be happy to debate about it.
Please fill in the registration form here to receive the link to access the Webinar.