How the trolls hijacked the image of scientist Andrew Chael to attack Katie Bouman

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Tim Elfrink, The Washington Post

10:34

While the world was amazed this week by the first image of a black hole, a new star was born here on Earth: Katherine Bouman, 29, a postdoctoral researcher who developed an essential algorithm to capture this breathtaking visual.

However, in the ugliest corners of the Internet, this sudden celebrity for a young woman in a male dominated field could not last. A fix was quickly found at Andrew Chael, another member of the Event Horizon Telescope team, who is, coincidentally, white and male.

On Reddit and Twitter, the memes quickly became viral, contrasting with Bouman and Chael, who – according to the viral images – was actually responsible for "850,000 lines of code out of 900,000 written in the algorithm history of black hole images! "

The implication was clear: Bouman, driven by an agenda-driven media, was getting all the attention. But Chael did all the work.

That's completely wrong, Chael said at a viral Twitter thread on Thursday night of his own. Not only are the mem's claims inaccurate, but Chael – as an overtly homosexual man – is also part of an under-represented demographic group in his field.

"Although I appreciate the congratulations for a result I've worked hard on for years, if you congratulate me because you have a sexist vendetta against Katie, please go away and rethink your priorities in the life", he tweeted.

It is unclear exactly when and where the reaction against Bouman began, but Chael first got wind of it from his friends who alerted him to a Reddit post. An article on the R / Pics sub-newspaper attracted hundreds of comments and thousands of positive votes before it was published. Many have criticized Bouman at his expense, said Chael, a 28-year-old graduate student in the Harvard Physics Department. As a typical commentator comments, "Katie has been flattered everywhere as being responsible for the code, but if this guy did all the work, he seems a little lame, he will not be recognized."

"It was obviously upset by the fact that a woman became the face of this story and they decided:" I will find someone who reflects my story instead, "he said. Chael in an interview with The Washington Post.

Identical memes spread quickly on Twitter, where a typical answer Was: "Andrew Chael did 90% of the work. Where is his credit? "

But these claims are totally false, Chael said. He certainly did not write "850,000 lines of code", a false figure probably from GitHub, a web-based coding service. And, while he was the main author of a software that was working on black hole imaging, the team used several different approaches to avoid bias. Her work was important, but Bouman was also vital as she helped bring all the teams together, Chael said.

"Katie has been a huge part of our collaboration at every stage," said Chael.

In reality, selecting a scientist in a gigantic and interdisciplinary group like the Event Horizon Telescope project is bound to create misunderstandings. Many people sharing an equally viral image of Bouman clasping hands in joy at the sight of the black hole are gone, mistakenly thinking that she was the only one responsible for the discovery, an idea that the Harvard-Smithsonian Center postdoctoral researcher for Astrophysics tried. correct.

"No algorithm or anyone created this image," wrote Bouman on Facebook, "it needed the incredible talent of a team of scientists from around the world and years of hard work to develop the instrument, the data processing, imaging methods and analysis techniques. that were necessary to achieve this seemingly impossible feat. "

But those who sought to diminish Bouman's work – particularly by giving Chael a boost – made an absurd argument, the astrophysicist said. The New Mexico native is on the list of LGBTQ scientists in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics and advises Harvard homosexual undergraduates.

"Yes, it was ironic that they chose me," he says.

Although he must speak out against the shock in return, Chael said he was also delighted to see Bouman's work presented as a source of inspiration and hoped that it would lead to more women in the departments of astrophysics and astronomy.

"I do not want to downplay the fact that it's a very male-dominated community, especially radio astronomy," said Chael. "There are fewer women than in other areas of astronomy, so we have to work hard to change."

"Katie and several other women scientists on our team are incredible leaders in this effort, and I hope this can be a chance for all of us to talk about doing better."

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