>She was a writer, and had an IQ of 228. I have an older
>sister(14) and she took an IQ test few weeks ago and she got
>156(her first try). How many times do you think Marylin vos
>Savant took the test before she scored that high? I don't
>really think that IQ could tell you how smart the person is,
>you can get better at it just by practicing. My sister is
>just 14 and in few years when she learns more don't you
>think she'll score much higher than just 156(now she knows
>what the test is like).

i agree that the vos savant example is rather poor. while there is some value to any test, standard iq tests have been shown to be quite Americo-centric.

more importantly, you should look up lise meitner, sonya kovalevsky, and the physicist maria goeppert mayer if you want examples of *real* well-known female mathematicians or physicists. i recommend you reading the book _Nobel_Prize_Women_in_Science_ if you really curious (although i don't believe that kovalevsky is included, even though she won the equivalent of a fields medal in her time).

>
>As for women in math fields, even now at school you can
>notice that guys think better than girls do, even though
>most girls try harder. Not many women go into math and

hmm, do you know what it means to 'think better'? i am a 21 year old, female phd student in artificial intelligence still trying to learn what that means. maybe you can teach me. :)

taking into account your stated age of less than 14 years, i'd venture to guess that the boys you encounter like to show off more in class, and the smarter girls are often quieter. as for 'studying harder', i am known to be pretty relaxed when it comes to doing work (although i have a horrible procrastination habit that leads me to stress neurotically for about two weeks every quarter), and i have still often far surpassed the boys in math and science courses and competitions (state level, etc.) throughout my life. i have quite a few other friends and female professors who are similar in that respect. more importantly: each of us have healthy social lives and relationships, and we have other intellectual interests as well as athletic interests.

however, admittedly, there is a severe scarcity of girls in my computer science department (and during my mathematics undergraduate years as well). i am often only one of two girls in courses of 15 to more than 20 students. moreover, none of us have originally come from the U.S.. interestingly, the percentage of women in mathematics and science in the U.S. is significantly lower than that percentage in other countries such as Hungary or my home country of Turkey. in Hungary, the percentage of female physics professors is 50% (from a recent government census). in Turkey that percentage is close to 40%. in the U.S. it is less than 15%! unfortunately, i don't recall the respective percentages of mathematics professors, but i seem to remember that they are somewhat proportional.

now, i doubt that American girls 'don't think as well' as girls from other countries. rather, in Eastern Europe especially, mathematics and science education is so emphasized that girls are also encouraged into mathematics and science. there are surely other factors as well. but, let me just put it this way: in American highschools girls are more encouraged to be cheerleaders than to have a sufficient understanding of mathematics and science, whereas in Turkish highschools girls who prefer something like cheerleading to doing well in mathematics or science are frowned upon.

well, i am quite saddenned that a plausibly bright girl younger than 14 years of age would already succumb to the social stereotype that 'boys think better than girls, even though most girls try harder.' :( your statements in themselves, at such a young age, hint at the answer to your original question. i am happy, however, that you are curious to find some role models to show you that it is not an altogether impossible endeavor to have a healthy female life and still excel scientifically or mathematically. again, i really recommend you to read _Nobel_Prize_Women_in_Science_, which i had happily read when i was a 14 year old girl in the U.S.. i hope that it will at least help you to dispel any doubts you have of your own potential.

on a related tangent, i doubt that even now you would say that girls are less *creative* than boys. well, much of higher level mathematics is quite beautiful and involves enormous creativity. pay no attention to the roteness of most grade-school math courses. if you stick with math, then you might just have a lot of fun with it. :) in case you haven't read it already, i'd advise you to read _The_Joy_of_Mathematics_ by Theoni Pappas as an introduction to that world. of course, thanks to alexb, you also have this very domain cut-the-knot to give a glimpse of that world. :)

>science fields just cause they're not good at it, not cause
>they don't want to or are affraid of it. I don't see why it
>is that way.

see above please -- no pun intended. :)
--Gunes

>
>Amy