Kirk Sorensen, a good friend of mine, brought his three daughters and lovely wife to the American Nuclear Society annual meeting. During a session focused on education and public communications, there was a scheduled talk about a program in Texas aimed at encouraging high school aged girls with excellent math and science skills to remain interested in the subjects so that they could enter into technical areas of study and eventually into professions that took advantage of those skills.
While we were waiting for the presentation computer to start up, Kirk asked if he could let his older two daughters demonstrate what they had recently learned during learning play. (Kirk is an aerospace engineer who is nearing completion of a master’s in nuclear engineering; his wife is a school teacher.) The girls recited the periodic table with barely a blip as they moved through difficult to pronounce words like ruthenium, osmium, and californium. The crowd loved it! I think you will to.
Makes one proud to be a geek!
Update: If you want the Dad’s point of view on this proud achievement, visit Kirk’s take on the event.
