Chapter 2. Controversial Issues

“2.1: Let me tell you my trouble with girls.”

In June 2015, former Nobel Prize winner and biochemist Sir Tim Hunt sparked controversy and criticism when addressing an audience at the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea. Hunt stated, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. . . . Three things happen when they are in the lab: You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry.” Hunt was advocating for sex-segregated labs and workplaces. Subsequently, he apologized for any offense caused by his remarks but stood by his statements, further stating, “I did mean the part about having trouble with girls. It is true that people—I have fallen in love with people in the lab and people in the lab have fallen in love with me—and it’s very disruptive to the science because it’s terribly important that in a lab people are on a level playing field. . . . I found that these emotional entanglements made life very difficult” (Sarkar, 2015).