This month, Mathnasium would like to honor the many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have made significant contributions to the fields of math and science by highlighting six modern day leaders who have helped us better understand our world and how we connect with each other.
Dr. Ted Fujita, known as Mr. Tornado, kept very detailed notes in his professional and private life. His curiosity about, well, everything, led him to draw conclusions no one else had seen before. Among his observations was the fact that not all tornadoes are the same and, after studying them for years, he created a six-point scale to measure their intensity, known as the Fujita Scale. Learn more about this Mr. Tornado from American Experience on PBS.
Not too long ago, Yahoo! used to be a bigger name than Google. One of the company’s founders, Jerry Yang, is an Asian-American whose story is also told in part 3 of the must-watch series Asian Americans on PBS.
Yet another Silicon Valley pioneer is Reshma Saujani. Although her background is in the legal field, her work has focused on achieving gender parity in tech. In this interview with Book View Now from PBS BOOKS, she discusses her book "Girls Who Code" and how she hopes more women will be inspired to disrupt the gender imbalance in Silicon Valley.
Satya Nadella grew up wanting to build big things. As the CEO of Microsoft, he is now in charge of one of the biggest companies in the world! In this long-ranging conversation on The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations, you get to know what drives him.
Colonel Ellison Onizuka was a distinguished U.S. Air Force pilot before becoming part of NASA's Astronaut Class of 1978. He became the first Asian American astronaut in space when he completed a mission on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985. His life was cut short in 1986 as part of the team aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. In this episode from Retro Report on PBS, we learn about how that tragedy reframed our understanding of risky actions.
Chien-Shiung Wu is often referred to as the First Lady of Physics. Her work in experimental physics advanced the work of the Manhattan Project when she was recruited to resolve issues that other well-known physicists were have difficulties with. While women were often kept out of the Manhattan Project's research positions or omitted from the history books, her contributions to science at large cannot be overlooked. Here’s a short video to learn more.
