THE latest in a series of biographies celebrating the extraordinary work and contribution of philosophers, mathematicians, engineers and code breakers includes four Cork entries - two from Skibbereen.
Irish STEM Lives is compiled by the Royal Irish Academy and retraces the work of 46 pioneers, exploring the world of artificial intelligence, climate change, food safety, transport and communication.
Edited by Turlough O'Riordan and Jane Grimson, it touches all the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) that are integral to modern society.
The publication includes an incredible four entries for individuals connected to Cork including Percy Ludgate from Skibbereen who was a pioneer in digital computing.
Ludgate designed a novel computational device entirely himself.
The machine stored and made accessible 200 20-digit numbers, on which 'arithmetical operations' (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) could be undertaken, recorded and outputted via punched perforated paper.
Also from Skibbereen, historian of astronomy and scientific writer Agnes Mary Clerke is included.
Clerke was educated at home, her father taught her astronomy (he used his telescope to provide a time-service for Skibbereen) and her brother mathematics.
Settling in London as a scientific writer, she covered astronomy and the 'new' science of astrophysics, on which published a sequence of important books. She was a member of the Royal Institution and an honorary member of the all-male Royal Astronomical Society.
As well as this, the publication features an entry on amateur mathematician, Alicia Boole. From Cork she was one of five daughters of George Boole and Mary Boole, and her mother's educational expertise undoubtedly imbued Alicia's intelligence.
Experimenting with cubes, she engaged with four-dimensional geometry, introducing the term 'polytopes' to describe a set of four-dimensional figures.
While raising a family limited her mathematical endeavours, in later life Alicia collaborated with a Dutch mathematician, deploying her exceptional powers of geometrical visualisation.
While not born in Cork, mathematician George Boole is included.
He was appointed in August 1849 to the chair of mathematics at QCC, now UCC, a position he retained for the rest of his life.
Boole's research gave rise to Boolean Algebra, which Claude Shannon demonstrated in the twentieth-century are the best means of analysis digital circuits, integral to the later development of high-speed computing.
This also gave rise to what we now know as 'Boolean operators' (e.g. AND, OR, NOT) commonly used in digital search.
To honour their invaluable contributions and acknowledge their efforts, the only pictures included in the book are those of female STEM practitioners.
This decision was made to challenge the conventional norms of STEM representation.
The absence of male figures in the visual elements serves as a reminder that scientific progress is not an endeavour exclusive to men and that women have been, and continue to be, fundamental in driving innovation and discovery, which the editors discuss in their introduction as they delve into the issues impacting women in STEM historically.