- For years, there have been many women all around the world
who have communicated science
to the public. Complicated science,
you know, things like mycobacterium tuberculosis,
the theory of general relativity
and the laws of thermodynamics.
And we are going to meet two of them.
The first is a brilliant mathematician and communicator,
alive about 1,650 years ago, right here in Alexandria,
what used to be Egypt's capital.
Let me introduce you to this historical,
incredibly awesome lady, Hypatia of Alexandria.
(crowd applausing)
Let me hear you say Hypatia.
Hypatia was one of the first known female mathematicians.
She was super independent, crazy smart, and had a love
for making knowledge accessible to everyone.
And not just the nerdy kids in school.
But this kind of work, isn't all ancient history.
No. Fast forward to today,
I want you to meet another amazing woman
Nalini Nakdarni. Yup,
this lady climbing this tree, like it's no big deal.
Like it's, "Oh, you want me to climb this gigantic tree?
Hold my drink."
And all of that in the name of science.
Suffice to say, she had a lot in common with Hypatia
including her enthusiasm
for communicating science to everyone.
Let's start by setting our time machine
from 1,650 years ago, Alexandria.
(upbeat music)
From a young age, Hypatia was a true scholar.
When I was a kid
I was spending my time failing a Super Mario and Tetris
but Hypatia was learning math
and sciences from her father Theon.
Nope, not that Theon, this Theon of Alexandria.
Hypatia became an expert in math, astronomy and philosophy.
Wrote multiple commentaries on scientific pieces,
gave lectures about Plato and Aristotle.
You get the picture, she was very accomplished.
Hypatia was out there crushing it.
She was like, I'm not gonna sit in the corner
of this library that doesn't even have good Wi Fi
with this meh light and just talk to the ghost of the books.
I'm gonna be like
the coolest ancient science communicator in town.
But obviously she thought
that she's a modern science communicator
'cause ancient for us is modern for her.
And then you get it, you get it right.
And she was like, "Everyone is gonna come
to my classes, leave no one behind."
And everyone did from all over the Mediterranean
from all religions.
Unlike some other teachers
in her time who were like,
"Ew, you're Christian or Jewish or a Pagan
don't even show your face around here."
So basically Hypatia would take the hard concepts
from science books, wear a cool cloak,
take a stroll in the streets and say,
"Oh, hello, hello you my friend it's public lecture time.
Do you think Plato's words are too hard to understand?
Just tell me what you want to know
and we'll talk it through."
If she were a teacher today,
she would be one of those that instead of like, you know
giving a lecture and then reading
from her slides all the time.
We like having good discussion group
and everyone would be having comments and opinions.
It would be so nice (coughs)
to remembering you professor would read
from his slides all the time.
I remember you.
Maybe she thought that science didn't belong
to a small group of people,
to the elite or to the written words
locked up in the library.
It was for all.
The same way stars don't belong to anyone,
neither the shape of the moon
or the wonder of numbers.
Maybe she saw how the sciences connected us
rather than divided.
And maybe that's why she was as much
of a science communicator as she was a scientist.
Now being such a cool
and forward-thinking woman had its own troubles.
You see Hypatia was also buddies
with the Roman governor of Alexandria, Orestes.
She would give him counsel
and advice probably on small stuff like,
"Orestes, don't wear that toga, you look like a dork."
And on other important matters of the city.
Meanwhile Orestes was dealing
with some major political rivalry.
One of the people
from the other side tried to kill Orestes.
So, Orestes was like, "Um, rude" and killed him.
That got his rivals super angry.
And there were like, "Oh, it's all Hypatia's fault,
because she's poisoning his mind."
So one very sad day,
they attacked Hypatia in the street
and brutally murdered her.
This woman who loved science
and made sure others no matter where they came from
or who they were could have access to science too.
(soft upbeat music)
But this desire to find creative ways
to engage the public didn't die with Hypatia.
It has moved through different women
across different centuries
including this science communicator,
guardian of the trees, duchess of the canopy.
mistress of ecology, Nalini Nadkarini
- I'm a forest ecologist.
I study trees and forests around the world.
I really love sharing what I know
about trees and nature with all kinds of people.
- From the young age
Nalini like Hypatia was exploring the world around her
leading to a very endearing origin story
if I may say so myself.
- When I was a kid, I used to climb trees.
I'd come home from elementary school and just climb one
of the eight big maples that lined the driveway
of my parents' home.
And it was there that I really felt at home
most of all. I felt safe, I felt protected.
It was kind of my own world.
There was nobody else who was climbing trees.
And I remember just loving trees
and loving the fact that they supported me.
So I took a little oath when I was eight or nine years old.
And I said, "I'm gonna spend my life as a grownup
trying to understand trees and protect them."
- Nalini is the original Lorax from Dr. Seuss
like a scientist version of "The Lorax"
And she just saves the trees by studying them.
And basically what she studies is how plants
and animals that live in tree canopies
affect the undisturbed forest.
And how, you know, things that people do
and humans do like changing the climate
or deforestations changed the forest as a whole.
So like it would be the dream team, just like imagine.
Hypatia is like wearing a cape running around the streets
just spreading knowledge to everyone.
And then Nalini is dangling from a tree
and saving them and getting everyone else on board.
It would be the best team,
the Tree Lady and the Math Woman.
Excuse me, what?
I have zero talent in coming up with superhero names, okay.
The thing is both of these women had a mission
to make science more accessible to everyone.
- For me, communication
about science is really part of the scientific process.
I mean, a lot of people say,
"Oh, the scientific process is asking a question
and testing a hypothesis and gathering data
and then writing a paper
or giving a talk at a scientific meeting."
But I think it doesn't stop there
until we actually communicate what we have been
privileged to learn about the natural world.
- Nalini had this experience once
that really drove this point home
- I was giving a talk
on a very cold January night at the synagogue.
And there was one man who was clearly a homeless person.
He had a bag that was full
of his clothes that was sitting next to him on the pew.
After I'd given my sermon about the importance of trees
to people of all religions
and asked for comments from the congregation,
he stood up and he said,
"Well, I know that when I stand under a tree,
I feel dryer. I feel warmer.
And so I think trees are like God."
I feel that by walking outside of my lab
by going away from my scientific field site
with my laboratory and my gear and my instrumentation
and so forth and walking into a church
or walking into a prison or walking into a,
any place where people
maybe don't traditionally engage with science
but where science is as always all around them
I've been able to learn more about the values of nature.
- I once heard you won't save what you don't love
and Nalini loves the trees.
She made a promise to save them
but saving nature is a collective job.
And Nalini realized in order to get people
to remember their love for the trees
she has to get out of the lab and start a conversation.
Nalini's legacy is not just saving trees though.
Nalini's legacy is connection.
Connecting us to nature,
connecting us to the forest, to the trees
and to one another.
Similarly, Hypatia's legacy
isn't just teaching math and science.
or a journal named Hypatia about feminist philosophy
or a Hollywood movie, or even cool Hypatia march.
Her legacy like Nalini's is being a communicator
an advocate of science, sharing the wonders
of the world and making science accessible for all.
(soft upbeat music)