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radicalcraft6 karma

Hi, Dr. Wolfram; thank you, again, many years after the fact, for some time you spent talking with me and my classmates after we completed a course based around A New Kind of Science. I look forward to checking out Idea Makers, as well. I'm curious to see what you have to say about the women makers of history, including Lady Lovelace. In fact, here's a bigger question, related to another asked below: what patterns, if any, did you notice in the lives of the women you researched? Do you have any insight into women's role in intellectual history of the past, and in discovery going forward?

radicalcraft2 karma

A second question, if you have the time or inclination: as someone raised by two artists who went on to study physics and some philosophy of science, I've long been passionate about the possibilities visualization offers to science, math, and the expansion of knowledge. I've long wanted to do an art series, actually, on visual knowledge in physics (Feynman diagrams, EM fields, etc.). Do you know of any exciting examples of new work that uses visual techniques?

edited to add: In particular, I'm enamored with the idea of visual experimentation.

radicalcraft1 karma

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! That's cheering to hear; I was one of those young eagers myself once. In my experience, while science has changed immensely, many more traditional mores persist, especially in 'older' fields like physics. There's hope, but the massive tanker that is the scientific institution takes a long time to turn, I guess.

edited to add: And further, I'd encourage you to seek out more women of science for future writings. There have been more men, yes, but I think it's worth working against demographic trends and perception biases if we desire change.