UPDATE: Male Feminist Cowers to Media on Black Hole Image, Bows to Woman Who Wrote 0.26% of Code
Tom Pappert
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One of the researchers responsible for the black hole “photo” is angry that “Internet trolls” attempted to give credit to multiple scientists for its creation instead of one woman.
As Big League Politics reported yesterday, the mainstream media is attempting to give full credit for the black hole “photo” to Katie Bouman, when it was actually made possible by a team of over 200 scientists from more than 15 countries.
One of the researchers, Andrew Chael, who wrote over 850,000 lines of code in GitHub “model files,” came to her defense, worried that she was not receiving enough credit for the image.
(1/7) So apparently some (I hope very few) people online are using the fact that I am the primary developer of the eht-imaging software library (https://t.co/n7djw1r9hY) to launch awful and sexist attacks on my colleague and friend Katie Bouman. Stop.
— Andrew Chael (@thisgreyspirit) April 12, 2019
Chael wrote that he is concerned the public is using his impressive work to “launch awful and sexist attacks” against Bouman. CNN backed him up with an article claiming “Internet trolls tried to credit a white man for the black hole image”, totally missing the point of many individuals’ criticisms.
For Chael’s part, he too seems inclined to point out that this was not simply Bouman performing a superhuman effort by herself. He lauded her for “pointing out that this was a team effort,” but chastised his new fans, bemoaning their alleged “sexist agenda” against Bouman.
He also noted, for some reason, that he is a “gay astronomer.”
(5/7) out that this was a team effort including contributions from many junior scientists, including many women junior scientists (https://t.co/Gte2sTNLXo). Together, we all make each other's work better; the number of commits doesn't tell the full story of who was indispensable.
— Andrew Chael (@thisgreyspirit) April 12, 2019
Bouman herself made clear on Facebook that she does not deserve full credit for the image, saying that her algorithm was one among many used in its creation. She also noted that various researchers crowded into a room with their computers to generate the image simultaneously, in a move purposely taken to avoid a single researcher receiving a disproportionate amount of credit.
In fact, the New York Times was forced to admit that her initial algorithm that earned her a place on the team was not even used in creating the famous image.
Even after two researchers made clear that this was a joint effort, the media remains hyper focused on Bouman’s contribution, likely because she is a young, female researcher. In their rush to credit Bouman, the media has completely glossed over the other 206 scientists spread across 17 countries who worked diligently to provide the first ever image of a black hole.
By neglecting to mention the rest of the team, the media raises Bouman, who worked on an “imaging subteam”, above the rest of the researchers, and invites observers to draw their own conclusions about why the young woman is receiving such attention.
If pointing out that a woman was part of a larger effort accomplished by more than 200 other researchers, apparently including a gay astronomer, constitutes a “sexist attack,” perhaps CNN and other media outlets should have done their job in the first place by giving credit to the full team of scientists.
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