When Marie Tharp first proposed the idea of tectonic plates, it was dismissed as “girl talk.” After all, she hadn’t been on the survey mission — that was only for men. How could she determine that from the maps?
“It took almost a year for Heezen to believe her, despite a growing amount of evidence and her meticulous checking and re-checking of her work. He only changed his mind when evidence of earthquakes beneath the rift valley she had found was discovered — and when it became clear that the rift extended up and down the entire Atlantic. Today, it is considered Earth’s largest physical feature.
When Heezen — who published the work and took credit for it — announced his findings in 1956, it was no less than a seismic event in geology. But Tharp, like many other women scientists of her day, was shunted to the background.”
It’s definitely time to no longer keep quiet!
