When Yvonne Brill died in March of this year the New York
Times did an obituary on her. It began in the first sentence by stating she was famous for how good her beef
stroganoff was. Then it continued to say she followed her husband all around being
a devoted mother and wife. In the later paragraphs it said she had also been a scientist. Also in the first paragraph her son said she was "the
best mom in the world". No doubt that Yvonne Brill (1924-2013) was
a good wife, was a great mom and by all accounts did make a mean beef
stroganoff. So why did that opening paragraph of her NY Times obituary piss off so many people? Why did it piss me off? Why might it piss you off? Here is why.
Yvonne Brill was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). She
was a brilliant student of science in school but was denied admission to the University of Manitoba because they apparently had no accommodations to allow women students to attend. I find that hard to believe even though it was the 1940’s. She went on to earn a master’s degree in chemistry at U.S.C. She worked in the newly begun space program and is credited with developing the hydrazine resistojet. She holds the patent (1967) on this device
that stabilizes propulsion in rocket lift off and travel.
Her theory was to use
a single propellant and in doing so (not mixing fuels and gases) helped create
greater performance and reliability. With a single propellant the payloads were
lighter allowing the rocket to travel farther. Essentially she created a system
that made it possible for rockets to go as far as they did, with the
reliability that they had.
Her innovations with
lighter fuel payloads made it possible for NASA to get to the moon in less time (years)
than otherwise. All the communication satellites and space stations owe their
reliability and durability to the contributions of Yvonne Brill. She made a
major contribution to the first weather satellite TIROS .She made a major
contribution to the NOVA rocket designs which were instrumental in moon
landings. She significantly helped with the propulsion of the Explorer 32 which
was the first upper atmosphere satellite. She was instrumental in the propulsion
of the Mars Observer. Yes, Yvonne Brill was a major figure in all phases of the
US Rocket and satellite program.
She won or was awarded: AIAA Propulsion Award 2002; John
Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Society; 2001 NASA Distinguished
Public Service Medal and in 2011 President Obama awarded her the National Medal
of Technology and Innovation. In 1987 she was elected to the National Academy
of Engineering. Yvonne Brill was in a word brilliant.
Have you ever heard of her? Of course you haven’t, that’s
the point of this posting. Yvonne was a humble person. We know the astronauts;
we even know who the chain smoking, white vest wearing mission control officer was: Gene Kranz.
I know more about Gene Krantz and the TV commentators that covered the events than I do about the person instrumental in getting the astronauts up there, Yvonne
Brill.
We don’t know that much about hardly any of the engineers, and rocket scientists that made NASA go but we should. It’s not just about the pilots or vest wearing, screen watching, head set users.
We don’t know that much about hardly any of the engineers, and rocket scientists that made NASA go but we should. It’s not just about the pilots or vest wearing, screen watching, head set users.
What’s shocking and infuriating is that when this brilliant
scientist, a person that made it possible to watch cable TV, make cell phone
calls and get immediate up to date weather information, dies the leading
newspaper in the country writes about
her ability to make beef stroganoff and keep house. It is an insult to her, and to women
everywhere. IF you are a woman, and you help find the cure for cancer but are
remembered for your peach cobblers then we haven’t come that far, have we? Want
to know why women get pissed off at the way society and men in particular view them
sometimes? Well, this is exhibit A.
My final point is this. The New York Times under
pressure from outraged readers rewrote the obit the next day and took the
beef stroganoff sentence out but otherwise left the opening paragraph the same
about how she sacrificed her career to follow her husband. That is another outrage because it’s not true. While Yvonne Brill
did reduce her work week from full time to part time status for a few years to be
at home more with her kids; this was done in agreement with her husband. She never gave up her job. It was during these years that she did some of her best
work. Instead of following her husband around he followed her and at one point
she went to London to work on a rocket project with the British and he stayed home in New Jersey
taking care of the kids. None of this was reported in the obituary.
It’s bad enough to short shrift a person’s
professional career but when you don't even get the facts right that's injury to insult.
Yvonne was a brilliant, pioneering scientist in the US Space
program. Her contributions were real and undeniably significant. Ignorance is no excuse, America needs to be the world leader in respecting women not marginalizing them.
In America, today, we have to be able to do better than this, yes?!
In America, today, we have to be able to do better than this, yes?!
