Polls About Famous Women Scientists 'Frustrating'

Eoin Lettice at Communicate Science says that 88 is the ('frustrating') "number of the week" since it represents the percentage of "18 to 24-year-olds in Britain who could not name any female scientific figure — either current or historical," according to a recent Royal Society poll. Lettice notes that "just less than half were able to name a famous male scientist, either." The blogger says that a spokesperson for the Royal Society called the poll results "frustrating." Over at Women in Wetlands, blogger DrDoyenne says that according to a recent survey, 65 percent of Americans polled "could not name a single female scientist." Blogger biochem belle at There and (Hopefully) Back Again says that as she was drafting her mental list of famous female scientists, she realized "that I very well might not know them if I wasn't in science." She adds that "it also occurred to me just how few female scientists I've ever seen on television."