Photo: EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE COLLABORATION/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
After scientists released thefirst-ever image of a black holeon Wednesday,Katie Bouman, a 29-year-old computer scientist, quickly became a social media darling for her part in the historic event.
Bouman created the algorithm that made it possible to assemble the photo, according to theWashington Post, and is a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She had been working on the algorithm for almost six years, beginning when she was a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
According to the outlet, the trolls pushed social media posts that claimed Chael had solely written “850,000 of the 900,000 lines of code” that helped to create the image.
That’s when Chael fought back.
“So apparently some (I hope very few) people online are using the fact that I am the primary developer of the eht-imaging software library… to launch awful and sexist attacks on my colleague and friend Katie Bouman,” Chael wrote in aTwitter threadon Thursday, before adding, “Stop.”
Chael continued to set the record straight — saying that the code for the image software only contained 68,000 lines and not “850,000,” as the trolls tried to assert.
“So while I appreciate the congratulations on a result that I worked hard on for years,” he added. “If you are congratulating me because you have a sexist vendetta against Katie, please go away and reconsider your priorities in life. Otherwise, stick around — I hope to start tweeting more about black holes and other subjects I am passionate about — including space, being a gay astronomer, Ursula K. Le Guin, architecture, and musicals.”
After putting the trolls in their place, Chael said he hoped all of the discussion around black holes and Bouman will inspire other women to take up studying fields encompassing science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
“I’m thrilled Katie is getting recognition for her work and that she’s inspiring people as an example of women’s leadership in STEM. I’m also thrilled she’s pointing out that this was a team effort including contributions from many junior scientists, including many women junior scientists,” he wrote. “Together, we all make each other’s work better; the number of commits doesn’t tell the full story of who was indispensable.”
source: people.com
