At Swarthmore, the Dean of Women was very opposed to women going into science or engineering - so opposed that if she couldn't talk a girl out of it, she just never had anything more to do with her for the four years she was there.

One of the reasons I like working with schools is to try to convince women that they can be scientists and that science can be fun.

My mother had early-onset Alzheimer's, and it took her four years to die. She was only 44; I was 14.

I still remember asking my high school guidance teacher for permission to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin. She looked down her nose at me and sneered, 'What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?'

It was probably my parents who inspired me most. My father was a scientist and answered my scientific questions, while my mother took me on walks and showed me birds and plants. She also took me out at night and showed me the constellations and the aurora.

I wondered had I really oversold the Hubble. I have to admit that, since, I have been convinced that I didn't.