The online trolls hijacked the image of a scientist to attack Katie Bouman. They chose the wrong astrophysicist.

Tim Elfrink, The Washington Post

published

6:25 PDT, Friday 12 April 2019

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.

In the ugliest corners of the Internet, however, this sudden notoriety of a young woman in a male dominated field could not hold. 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 that were written in the 39, historical algorithm 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 false, Chael said in his own Twitter feed on Thursday night. 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 on which I have worked hard for years, if you congratulate me because you have a sexist vendetta against Katie, please go away and rethink your priorities in life, "he tweeted.

It is unclear exactly when and where the reaction against Bouman began, but Chael was first informed by friends who alerted him to a Reddit post. An article on the R / Pics sub-newspaper drew hundreds of comments and thousands of positive votes before being rejected. Many criticize Bouman at his expense, said Chael, 28, a graduate student in the Harvard Physics Department. As one typical commentator complains, "Katie has been flattered everywhere as being responsible for the code, but if this guy did just about all the work, seemed a little lame, he would not be recognized."

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

Identical memes quickly spread to Twitter, where a typical response 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 taken 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 job was important, but Bouman's job 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 truth, selecting a scientist in a gigantic and interdisciplinary group such as the Horizon Event 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 person has created this image," wrote Bouman on Facebook, "it required the incredible talent of a team of scientists from around the world and years of hard work to develop the" best of the world ". instrument, data processing, imaging methods and analytical 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 – presented an absurd argument, said the astrophysicist. 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 choose me," he says.

Chael said that he had been encouraged by Bouman's work but that he hoped to attract more women to 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," Chael said. "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."