Author: Michelle Francl
Source: Nature Chemistry. 12, 879鈥880 (2020).
Publication type: Editorial material
Abstract: 鈥淏ecquerels are the SI units for a radionuclide鈥檚 activity, grays are the unit for absorbed dose鈥. I鈥檓 in the middle of an introductory lecture on radiochemistry, but what鈥檚 really running through my mind is not metrology but a line from the King James Bible: 鈥楲et us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us鈥. Becquerels and grays, joules and newtons. I deal daily in numbers and with those numbers come units, compelling me to ceaselessly praise the famous men. What, I wonder, begat our practice of naming units for famous scientists 鈥 and in this moment, when we are working toward making science a more diverse, equitable and inclusive space, should we be rethinking it?