in reality but has nothing to do with the ac-
tual situation. For instance, even taking
body size into account, women typically
have smaller brains than men: 1,130 cubic
centimeters for women compared with
1,260 cubic centimeters for men. But it is
impossible to conclude anything from that
fact, because we also know that large brains
are not necessarily more efficient. Einstein
had an ordinary-sized brain. And brains, be
they large or small, are designed to thrive
and find inspiration. In this sense, it is in-
teresting to see how social evolution (giv-
ing girls a chance) has affected their scien-
tific scores, such as in math.
In the U.S. in the 1970s, boys and girls
performed at the same level in math in pri-
mary school. Then, beginning at age 12,
boys typically did better. Thirty years lat-
er—following the women’s liberation
movement and the fight for equality—a
new study was conducted involving nearly
seven million students: the difference be-
tween the sexes had evaporated. Today,
talented girls no longer eschew advanced
studies, whether scientific or otherwise,
although more of them choose life scienc-
es (medicine or biology) over more abstract
disciplines (math or physics). Other stud-
ies show that as social equality between
and women increases, the level of math
achievement for both sexes also becomes
more comparable.
Clichés about the intellectual superiori-
ty of men are being rejected and fought
with ever greater frequency: we are on the
right track to improvement. But women
need to be aware of their susceptibility to
the “stereotype threat.” They can also take
heart from the example of pioneering sci-
entist Marie Curie: this extraordinary wom-
an is still the only person to have received
Nobel Prizes in two different disciplines
(physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911).
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