FLASHCARDS: Quick Math & Science Tricks to Stop Leaks Fast

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS Wel­come to Fri­day’s Flash­cards with Math, Sci­ence, His­to­ry. The pod­cast where we explore the fas­ci­nat­ing ways math and sci­ence shape our world. Hi, I’m Gabrielle BIr­chak. I have a back­ground in math, sci­ence, and jour­nal­ism. And this week, odd­ly enough, is Fix a Leak week. Today, we’re div­ing into a prac­ti­cal top­ic, plumb­ing. Specif­i­cal­ly, we’re going to talk

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FLASHCARDS: Lillian Baumbach Jacobs — America’s First Master Plumber

March 16 through 22, 2025 is Fix-A-Leak Week! So, here’s a sto­ry about the life and lega­cy of Lil­lian Baum­bach-Jacobs, an incred­i­ble woman who broke bar­ri­ers in a field dom­i­nat­ed by men. Who was she? And what does she have to do with fix­ing a leak? Lillian’s sto­ry is one of per­se­ver­ance, skill, and a lit­tle bit of unex­pect­ed fame. She

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FLASHCARDS: The Rule of 72 Explained: How Fast Will Your Money Grow?

TRANSCRIPT It’s Flash­card Fri­day here at Math Sci­ence His­to­ry, and today we’re going to learn a math trick. Have you ever won­dered how long it takes for your invest­ed mon­ey to dou­ble or dis­ap­pear? There’s actu­al­ly a math trick for that. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Bir­chak. I have a back­ground in math, sci­ence, and jour­nal­ism, and today you’re going to learn

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Math, Civil Rights, and the Legacy of Bob Moses

Math, Civil Rights, and the Legacy of Bob Moses

It’s Black His­to­ry Month, and we are still cel­e­brat­ing black excel­lence. This week, I am talk­ing about one of my favorite activists and math­e­mati­cians, Robert Par­riss Moses, also known as Bob Moses. His life and lega­cy made an indeli­ble mark on America’s civ­il rights move­ment and math edu­ca­tion. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Bir­chak. I have a back­ground in math, sci­ence, and

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FLASHCARDS: So…Mistakes Happen

FLASHCARDS: So…Mistakes Happen

Wel­come to Math, Sci­ence, His­to­ry, where on Fri­day we post a short lit­tle flash card about some­thing mathy, sci­en­cy, or his­to­ry. I’m Gabrielle, and today, we’re talk­ing about mak­ing mis­takes and the good things that come out of them. Some­times, even among the best of them com­ma mis­takes are made peri­od and it takes a wise and hum­ble indi­vid­ual to

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L.A. Fires and a Repost: Earth Day

This week, due to lack of time, I will be repost­ing an old­er pod­cast that I did years ago about Earth Day because it serves as a valu­able reminder dur­ing the cur­rent mis­for­tune in Los Ange­les, as well as the mis­for­tune of oth­er areas afflict­ed by cli­mate change. No doubt, our plan­et is hurt­ing. If you are inter­est­ed in helping

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The History of Tribology

The History of Tribology

In 1966, one fas­ci­nat­ing word was pre­sent­ed in a paper in Europe, chang­ing the study of fric­tion and engi­neer­ing. Ah, 1966! What a won­der­ful year! It was the year of the ATM patent, the first year of Med­ic­aid, the year I was born, The Bea­t­les album “Rub­ber Soul” was num­ber one for six weeks, NASA’s Luna 9 became the first

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