While I agree with the authors about importance of reaching out, talking about and explaining science, I am reminded of a picture that circulated on the internet some time ago. It would be better in so many ways if the authors had chosen a title that did not use grandmothers as an example. I quote from the Geek Feminism blog:

'Public transit ad depicting a brain: note pointing to one side says "Can you solve one of our puzzles" and the note pointing to the other side reads "can you explain it to your mom?". Text below reads "We're hiring hackers with people skills". Someone has added a post-it note to the advertisement which reads "My mom has a PhD in math"'

(http://geekfeminism.org/2...)


Sincerely,

martin