Blinded by science

On my bedside table there are two piles of books. The first pile is courtesy of my teenage daughter – the ones she’s loved and wants me to read. She’s really into young adult dystopian fiction at the moment and a recent favourite was Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman.

The book is set in a modern-day California and imagines what might happen if everyone woke up one day and the taps were dry.

It’s a gripping read, and a good way for teens to process what their future might hold. It was also a good reminder to check our emergency supplies.

My second pile of books is mostly serious nonfiction. On the top is Angela Saini’s Inferior. Saini revisits landmark experiments in biology, psychology and anthropology to ask questions like: are women really hard-wired to be more nurturing and better at multi-tasking?

Or, have men really evolved to be more aggressive and promiscuous?

Saini’s excellently researched book shows ideas like these have no scientific basis. Inferior’s takehome message is that science has often got women wrong. We are as capable as men.

Sadly, harmful stereotypes continue to pervade our society. They even influence the careers we pursue.

So important is Saini’s message that crowdfunding campaigns have popped up around the world to get her book into the hands of teenagers through their high school libraries.

Here in Aotearoa, our successful campaign was spearheaded by the fantastic physicist and science writer Laurie Winkless. Soon copies of Inferior will be winging their way to all our high schools, thanks to the generosity of the public and a large donation from one of our country’s Centres of Research Excellence, the Brain Research New Zealand – Rangahau Roro Aotearoa.

It brings together neuroscientists, clinicians, and community organisations to combat disorders of the ageing brain.

The centre supported our campaign because it wants more young women considering a career in science. As co-director Prof Cliff Abraham said, ‘‘every day in our clinics and labs, we see first-hand the extraordinary achievements of our female colleagues’’.

I hope our teenagers read Inferior and feel empowered to pursue a career based not on stereotypes, but on their interests and passions.

Inferior’s take-home message is that science has often got women wrong. We are as capable as men.