Technically Speaking: a corpus linguistic study of the value of technicians

In 2020 the Science Museum in London will be opening a new exhibition all about technicians. With careful use of language, we think it can really make a difference to how technicians are perceived by others and, possibly more importantly, how they perceive and value their own work.

Gladys Owens

Gladys Owens was just 19 years of age when she arrived to work in the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was 1945 and she was to spend 8 months working there as a technician on the Manhattan Project. Gladys would become one of the “Calutron Girls” whose role, though none of them knew it at the time, was key to the building of the first atomic bomb.