The Funk List

Women have long fueled America's greatest scientific achievements. But when you go searching for information about these women scientists, you'll likely come up short. Only 19% of articles on Wikipedia are about women. In the field of science, this difference is even more pronounced. But now, a team at the Smithsonian is using artificial intelligence and good old fashioned research skills to scour the archives for lost women of science and publish their stories…before it’s too late.

Transcript

Guests:

• Liz Harmon, digital curator, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives 
• Kelly Doyle, open knowledge coordinator, Smithsonian American Women's History Museum 
• Rebecca Dikow, research data scientist, Smithsonian Data Science Lab
• Tiana Curry, former intern, Smithsonian Data Science Lab 

Smithsonian Links:

• Read about the origins of the Funk List from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
• Dig into Tiana Curry’s detective work with the Smithsonian Data Science Lab that led to the discovery of Mary Vaux Walcott specimens attributed to Charles Walcott.
• Check out the Sidedoor episode, "The Robot in the Mirror," to further explore the limitations and possibilities of the datasets we use to train artificial intelligence.