The Alphabet of Brilliance: 8 LGBTQ+ Scientists Who Changed History | Pride Month Special

For Pride Month, I profile eight scientists across eight identities in the 2SLGBTQI+ community. From the equations underpinning modern physics to the brain cells once dismissed as filler tissue, these researchers shaped the world we live in, often while hiding, fighting for, or paying dearly for who they were. Today I trace the lives of Sofia Kovalevskaya, Alan Turing, Margaret Mead, Ben Barres, Christopher Strachey, Magnus Hirschfeld, Paul Erdős, and Lozen, eight stories of brilliance that history tried, and failed, to erase.

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode

1. How a forged marriage opened the door to modern physics. Sofia Kovalevskaya couldn't attend university as a woman in Russia, so she found another way in, and ended up proving foundational theorems that every engineer and physicist still relies on today.
2. Why the man who helped win WWII was punished by the country he saved. Alan Turing's codebreaking work is credited with shortening the war by years and saving millions of lives. Decades later, that same government prosecuted him for being gay, then put him on its currency.
3. How "supporting" brain cells turned out to be running the show. Ben Barres's research overturned decades of neuroscience consensus about glial cells, and his own experience transitioning gave him a firsthand look at gender bias in science that became one of the most cited accounts of its kind.

Featured Scientists & Resources

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891), Mathematician

• Cooke, R. (1984). The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya. Springer-Verlag.
• Koblitz, A. H. (1983). A Convergence of Lives: Sofia Kovalevskaia, Scientist, Writer, Revolutionary. Birkhäuser.
• MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive

Alan Turing (1912–1954), Mathematician & Computer Scientist

• Hodges, A. (1983). Alan Turing: The Enigma. Burnett Books.
• Turing, A. M. (1950). "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." Mind, 59(236), 433–460.
• The Alan Turing Institute
• Bank of England: Alan Turing £50 note
• Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog: "LGBTQ+ scientists who shaped history"

Margaret Mead (1901–1978), Anthropologist

• Mead, M. (1928). Coming of Age in Samoa. William Morrow & Company.
• Mead, M. (1975). "Bisexuality: A New Awareness." Redbook Magazine.
• Banner, L. W. (2003). Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle. Knopf.
• QueerBio.com: Margaret Mead
• Legacy Project Chicago: Margaret Mead

Ben Barres (1954–2017), Neurobiologist

• Barres, B. A. (2018). The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist. MIT Press.
• Barres, B. A. (2006). "Does gender matter?" Nature, 442, 133–136.
• Allen, N. J., & Barres, B. A. (2005). "Signaling between glia and neurons: focus on synaptic plasticity." Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15(5), 542–548.
• Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog: "LGBTQ+ scientists who shaped history"

Christopher Strachey (1916–1975), Computer Scientist

• Campbell-Kelly, M. (1985). "Christopher Strachey, 1916–1975: A Biographical Note." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 7(1), 19–42.
• Strachey, C. (1967). "Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages." Published posthumously in Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation, 13 (2000), 11–49.
• Computer History Museum: Christopher Strachey

Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935), Physician & Sexologist

• Hirschfeld, M. (1910). Die Transvestiten. Alfred Pulvermacher.
• Wolff, C. (1986). Magnus Hirschfeld: A Portrait of a Pioneer in Sexology. Quartet Books.
• Encyclopædia Britannica: Magnus Hirschfeld
• US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Magnus Hirschfeld
• Science Museum Blog: "Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science"

Paul Erdős (1913–1996), Mathematician

• Hoffman, P. (1998). The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for Mathematical Truth. Hyperion.
• Schechter, B. (1998). My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdős. Simon & Schuster.
• ASBMB: "LGBTQ+ scientists in history"
• The Erdős Number Project, Oakland University

Lozen (c. 1840–1889), Medicine Woman & Warrior

• Ball, E. (1970). In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache. University of Arizona Press.
• Aleshire, P. (1998). Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman. St. Martin's Press.
• Multnomah County Library: "Notable Two-Spirit Figures in History"
• Legends of America: "Lozen: Apache War Woman & Prophet"
• New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program: "Little Sister Lozen"

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