TITLE: Perfection Is Not A Pre-Requisite To Accomplishing Something Impressive
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: October 15, 2015  8:18 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:
In
<A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3jNQLTMrPlYGTBn0WV6M2MS/not-your-typical-role-model-ada-lovelace-the-19th-century-programmer">
   Not Your Typical Role Model</A>,
mathematician Hannah Fry tells us some of what she learned about
Ada Lovelace, "the 19th century programmer", while making a film
about her.  Not all of it was complimentary.  She concludes:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 Ada was very, very far from perfect, but perfection is
 not a pre-requisite to accomplishing something impressive.
 Our science role models shouldn't always be there to
 celebrate the unachievable.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

A lot of accomplished men of science were far from perfect role
models, too.  In the past, we've often been guilty of covering
up bad behavior to protect our heroes.  These days, we sometimes
rush to judge them.  Neither inclination is healthy.

By historical standards, it sounds like Lovelace's imperfections
were all too ordinary.  She was human, like us all.  Lovelace
thought some amazing things and wrote them down for us.  Let's
celebrate that.
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