"I'm a middle-school teacher," said one young woman, "and I really want to get girls more involved."

"I just think she's hot," said a creepy nerd in his mid-thirties.

McKellar, when she stepped up, looked exactly like Winnie Cooper. Attired in a fitted purple jersey dress and gold hoop earrings, it was hard to believe she was 33 — which is, I guess, the point. She had a bubbly, girlish speaking style and a SoCal intonation and peppered her speech with "hecks" and "goshes." "I was scared of math," she began frankly, explaining she didn't see herself as fitting the stereotype of the math nerd and doubting her early successes. "When a girl fails at math, it's like confirmation of what she already believes about herself." McKellar explained that she wants to show that math is for everyone, "that you can be that girly girl who wears four-inch heels and is good at math" - and that "being smart doesn't make you a nerd, whatever that even means!" Math, she said, "is like exercise for your mind," and useful in more contexts than most girls understand. "If you want to open a cute little boutique? You're going to need math! I even have a section on unexpected careers that require math, like designing," she said.

Despite McKellar's enthusiasm, the audience — with the exception of one elderly man with a none-too-clean iron-gray ponytail who guffawed indiscriminately throughout — remained stony-faced. ("Do you remember math tests?" she asked confidentially at one point. Silence. "Well, I sure do!" she continued pluckily.) The reading portion, because it's a math text, was necessarily brief. Then, of course, questions.

"I'm a teacher," said the first speaker. "Are you going to continue with the series and do pre-calc, calculus and trig, too?"

McKellar said she might.

"I'm also a teacher," said the next. "And I'm already seeing girls feeling really discouraged by seventh grade. "
"I'm a middle-school teacher, too," said a third. "are you going to be doing any speaking at schools?"

A guy asked if she was encouraged by the recent reports that girls were as good at math as boys.

"Those statistics are nothing new," said McKellar heatedly. "It's not a question of ability; girls just don't see themselves as able to compete at a high level."

Someone asked about her speech before Congress for funding for scholarships for women.

"The truth is, scholarships aren't the problem, really," said McKellar. "By college, it's too late - women don't think of themselves as mathematicians, end of story. They're not applying for those scholarships."

"Don't you think it's unfair to be focusing on girls when kids across the board are struggling with math?" asked one guy aggressively.

"Well, lots of boys read the book," said McKellar defensively. She went on to say that textbooks had always been geared towards a male sensiblity, so this was more about redressing a balance.

"When is The Wonder Years coming out on DVD?" demanded an old man with a mustache and a Nascar cap.

McKellar very graciously replied that she didn't know but that "I've heard there are bootlegs out there, but they're illegal."

As the customers lined up, marshaled strictly by the B&N employees, to have their books signed, I heard an 11-year-old girl say, shyly, "I like your book. It made math fun." McKellar beamed with pleasure. At that same moment, I noticed a group of young guys pass by the picture window in front of which the actress and math genius was standing and give her rear end a thorough and unabashed once-over. The two things, combined, seemed like a pretty good window into the one-time Maxim model's life. Kiss My Math, indeed.

• A choir teacher in San Diego called a student an "ugly brat," then literally kicked her out of the classroom. • Disturbing fertility news: even half a serving of soy a day can lower a man's sperm count — effects are more pronounced if he's overweight. • Disturbing adoption news: DNA tests show an abducted Guatemalan baby was adopted by a US couple. Several more abducted babies have been found in Guatemalan orphanages, leading some to believe the practice is widespread. • And some reassuring news: belly and thigh fat is a great source of stem cells, which could cure disease and even remove wrinkles. So eat that donut — unless you're a man, you want a baby, and it's made of soy.

Of course, these studies also mention the culturally ingrained messages we receive from the cradle. Even if female PhD students are encouraged in the same way as male students, it's entirely possible that the way they've been socialized affects the "choices" they're making when opting out of soaring science career paths. The effect of socialization shows up in studies like one mentioned on Salon, which shows that "In Sweden, about the closest thing we've got to a 'gender-equal society,' the difference between boys' and girls' [math] scores is negligible."

Writing in Wired, Anna Kushnir, PhD, doesn't suggest a complete societal overhaul, but she does put forth some very reasonable measures that might help keep women in the hard sciences. "Institute reasonable day care at universities. Allow for extended maternity leave and the option of paternity leave. Don’t cut women any breaks," she reasons. "They are no less inherently able to achieve than men, regardless of what certain Nobel Prize winners and heads of major Universities may say. They don’t need pity or hand me downs. They just need the freedom to choose."

The Freedom To Say 'No' [Boston Globe]
The Education Gender Gap [Salon]
Why Are Senior Female Scientists So Heavily Outnumbered by Men? [Wired]

Earlier: Do We Suck At Math Because Of Biology Or The Patriarchy?

Mariah Carey [WalMart]

[Image via Oh! My God! I Miss You]

Finally, more than 50% of women "asked maths questions by their children or family said they struggled to answer them," reports the BBC. If the vintage calculator ad above is any indication — "If you can't remember numbers, Rapidman can!" displayed with a picture of a smiling, groceries clad couple — it's not that the average woman is worse at math than the average man, but that, as the BBC implies, she's just less confident in her abilities. (Age also was a major factor in the poll, as men and women over 55 were the most confident in their mathematical abilities, while 25 to 34-year-olds were the least sure of themselves.) Studies have shown that in the bell curve of mathematical ability, most women end up clustered around the middle, while men more often fall on the high and low ends of the ability spectrum, and in American schools, girls and boys are now equal in their math courses. Once again we say to the Daily Mail: sod off. Your proclamations about women's frivolousness are only discouraging their latent math skills. Danica McKellar, Winne Cooper from the Wonder Years and the co-author of a scientific paper about a theorem in mathematical physics is our new math deity.

[Image via Vintage Ads.]

Earlier: Do We Suck At Math Because Of Biology Or The Patriarchy?
It All Adds Up
A Blast From The Past Brings A Glimmer Of Hope For The Future

The most interesting part of Scientific American's survey is the discussion of the "real-world impact" of attitudes towards women in science. The magazine says that at the top levels, many aspects of scientists' careers are determined by peer reviews and that there is a "shroud of secrecy" surrounding these reviews and that "awarding of grants, acceptance of academic papers for publication and decisions about hiring — are judged by a panel of other, often anonymous, scientists." It's possible that these anonymous scientists have completely sexist attitudes, keeping women from the highest levels of scientific achievement.

That still doesn't explain why Anna and I were awesome at math (and even enjoyed it!) until about age 12 or 13. Did teachers stop encouraging us? Were we getting tacit cultural messages telling us that girls aren't good at math? Were our tween brains addled by hormones? It's not entirely clear. What about you? Did you feel like you were encouraged at math and science, or did you find the same adolescent math block that we did?

Sex, Math And Scientific Achievement [Scientific American]

* Gender happiness gap at the beginning and end of the sample
oprobit HAPPY SEX [aw=wt] if YEAR==1972
oprobit HAPPY SEX [aw=wt] if YEAR==2006
* Changes in the gender happiness gap using only the first and last years
xi: reg vhappy i.SEX*i.YEAR[aw=wt] if YEAR==1972 | YEAR==2006
xi: reg unhappy i.SEX*i.YEAR [aw=wt] if YEAR==1972 | YEAR==2006

Maybe the real happiness gap started setting in whatever year it became popular for economists to stop working on the economy by day and getting their wives off at night and started applying advanced calculus to every single mundane happening in their lives including though not limited to why their wives were faking it! Because that happened in 2004.

• Winona Ryder is speaking out now about her shoplifting. Honestly? No one gives a shit. [People]
  
• In the UK, one in four 18-to-25-year olds cannot answer the following question: What is one eighth of 32? [BBC]
  
• Al-Qaeda said to be "stepping-up" its presence in the U.S. Please God, no one tell Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The thought of her ranting and raving about this is scarier than the threat of a terrorist act itself. [BBC]
  
• Memo to Hillary: The woman who is to be India's first female president - not so popular. [NYT]
  
• Harry Potter the book? Too long. Harry Potter the movie? Too heavy-handed. But Harry Potter the postage stamp? Now we're talking! [USA Today]

• And meanwhile, Harry Potter is also the latest problem to afflict Israel, with the new book being released on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Religious leaders = not happy. And now we wonder, are there that many Orthodox rabbis worried about whether Snape is evil or not? [USA Today]
• The lawyer with TB who claimed he had no idea he was contagious had surgery to help treat his condition today. Um, too little too late, bub. [CNN]
• The current crop of Republican presidential candidates? Losers, all of 'em. [CNN]
• 2 U.S. casualties identified. [DoD]

• Happy 21st birthday Mary Kate and Ashley! Yup, as of today, the Olsen twins are legally able to imbibe both Red Bull and vodka. Now go throw up an extra-special birthday dinner girls — you deserve it! [Olsen Twins 21st Birthday Countdown]
  
• Everyone — rulers out! A new study says that math skills can be determined by the ratio of the ring finger to index finger. We tried to calculate our own ratio, but... we're so bad at math we couldn't. [ScienceNow]
  
• Random public service announcement: Grapes and raisins cause kidney failure in dogs. And yes, we checked. [TheKnot.com]
  
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Internet, was given England's highest honor, the Order of Merit, by Queen Elizabeth today. Wait a second. Rewind. Didn't Al Gore invent the Internet??? [BBC]
  
• While touring Australia, the Dalai Lama met with Bindi Irwin, the 9-year old daughter of the late Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin. What, is an audience with The Pope next? [CNN]
  
• Don "Mr. Wizard" Herbert died last night at the age of 89. We learned more about science from him during our television-viewing days during the mid-80's than we ever did in school. [CNN]

• We may not know much about science, but we do know that fossils are cool. [NYT]
• K-Fed's rep denies that the ex-Mr. Spears has impregnated the woman he left for Britney, Shar Jackson, yet again. [E!]
• Jake Gyllenhaal? On Broadway? This fall? The gays will go crazy! [People.com]
• Two U.S. casulaties identified today. [DoD]