2000 Years of
Women in Science
from the bain-marie to Kevlar
Dr Gillian Butcher
Pioneering Women in Physics 4th March 2015
Overview
• Context
within society, science
• Selective history and ideas
• References
-Women in Science A Social and Cultural History, Ruth Watts
Routledge, 2007
-Reflections on Gender and Science, Evelyn Fox Keller
Yale University Press, 1985
Earliest Women in Science
Merit-Ptah (c. 2700 BCE) Egypt
described in an inscription as "chief physician“
Agamede (c. 1194–1184 BCE) Greece
cited by Homer as a healer before the Trojan War
Ancient Greek Philosophy
• Pre-Socratic
– Pythagoras (582-496 BCE)
• Classical Greek
– Socrates (469-399 BCE)
– Plato (428-348 BCE)
– Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Hippocrates (460-370 BCE) Father of Western Medicine
“wandering uterus” connected to hysteria
the cause of women’s health problems, emotional instability and inability to reason
Ancient Greek Women
Theano (6th century BCE) Greece
mathematician and physician
Agnodike (4th century BCE) Greece
first female physician to practice legally in Athens
Aglaonike (2nd century BCE) of Thessaly
Astronomer - predicted eclipses
Alchemy in Alexandria
Mary the Jewess (?1st- 3rd centuries AD)
credited with inventing several chemical instruments,
including double boiler (bain-marie) and a type of still
Cleopatra (3rd-4th century AD)
descriptions and drawings of technical processes of furnaces
author of Chrysopoeia “Gold-Making”
Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 350-415 AD)
wrote texts on geometry, algebra and astronomy
credited with various inventions including a hydrometer, an astrolabe,
and an instrument for distilling water
Middle Ages
Developments in China, India and Arab countries
Europe translated existing works
Universities founded
Bologna 1088, Paris 1160
Oxford 1167, Cambridge 1209
Scientific method
Robert Grosseteste (c.1175-1253)
Roger Bacon (c.1214-1294)
Women in the Middle Ages
Hildegard of Bingen (c.1098-1179)
wrote theological, botanical and medicinal texts
Italy
Women matriculating from universities
University of Bologna had women as staff
England
Women surgeons joining Guilds in York into 16th century
Duchess of Suffolk, Alice de la Pole (1404-1475) order of Garter
Duchess of Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham (c.1400-1452) accused of witchcraft
Christine de Pisan (1364-c.1430)
wrote in defence of women’s intellect
Revolution
1620 James I legislation on gender roles
Civil War 1642-1651 questioning of existing hierarchies
Diggers absolute equality for men and women in law and education
Restoration 1660 gender distinction more marked
Shift in attitude to and fear of women’s sexuality
C17 Age of Reason also height of witch mania
Industrialisation 1760-1840
led to polarised division of work and home and roles of men and women
Scientific revolution
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) “father of experimental science”
“a chaste and lawful marriage between Mind and Nature”
Science is mastery of man over nature
Nature as bride is seduced, conquered and stripped of power
Mechanical v Hermetic Philosophy
Alchemists
“holistic” approach – harmony of man, woman and world
Science or Witchcraft
Act of God or Act of Satan
Royal Society founded 1612 – a private Gentleman’s Club
Opportunities
Technology
Telescope and microscope affordable to wealthy
Printing gave greater access to writings
• Translations of science writings
Lucy Hutchinson (1620-1681)
translated Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura
• Scientific books written for public
Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806)
Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophy explained for the Use of the ladies
Jane Marcet (1769-1858) Conversations on Chemistry
• Transmission of ideas on Education
Judith Drake Essay in Defense of the Female Sex (1696)
Mary Astell (1666-1731) "If all Men are born Free, why are all Women born Slaves?"
Women in Science
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673)
Anne Finch, Viscountess Conway (1631-1679) philosopher
Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684)
1st woman to graduate in Nat. Philosophy (University of Padua)
Elisabeth Hevelius (1647-1693) Polish astronomer
Maria Winkelmann (1670-1720) German astronomer
Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1740) French physicist and mathematician
Laura Bassi (1711-1778) Italian physicist 1st woman prof. in Physics in any uni.
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) Italian mathematician
Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) Ger-Br astronomer
Marie Lavoisier (1758-1836) French chemist
Sophie Germain (1776-1831) French mathematician
Mary Somerville (1780-1872)
Professional Science and Scientists
Rise of professional science – restricted access to those with qualifications
Access to Oxford and Cambridge Universities was restricted
Barred non-conformists eg Quakers, Methodist, Unitarian
Scottish Universities more open and accessible
Growing urban and commercial middle classes
Royal Institution established 1799
Establishment and growth of Philosophical Societies
British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) set up 1831
Science for middle and lower classes
A Classics education a sign of affluence – can afford to spend time on “useless” pursuits
Women Scientists
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) American astronomer
Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923) British electrical engineer
Mary Adda Blagg (1858-1944) British astronomer
Dorothea Klumpke (1861-1942) American astronomer
Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941) American astronomer
Maria Ogilvie Gordon (1864-1939) British geologist
Marie Curie (1867-1934) Polish physicist and chemist Nobel prize
Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921) American astronomer
Elsa Neumann (1872-1902) German physicist
Harriet Brooks (1876-1937) Canadian nuclear physicist
Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Austrian nuclear physicist
Ellen Gleditsch (1879-1968) Norwegian 1st woman prof of Chemistry
Emmy Noether (1882-1935) German mathematician
Inge Lehmann (1888-1993) Danish seismologist
Marietta Blau (1894-1970) American physicist
Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) French nuclear physicist
Access to Higher Education
•
•
•
•
1870-80s women admitted to Oxbridge to attend courses and take exams
Women’s Colleges set up
1878 London University allowed women to graduate
1919-20 Oxford admits women to degrees
• 1919 Women’s Engineering Society WES founded
• 1928 votes for all women over age of 21
20th Century
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-79) Br-Us astronomer
Mary Cartwright (1900-98) British mathematician
Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) Irish x-ray crystallographer
Maria Goeppert Mayer (1906-1972) German-US mathematical physicist
Marguerite Perey (1909-1975) French nuclear chemist
Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994) British x-ray crystallographer
Jean Hanson (1919-1973) British bio-physicist
Margaret Burbidge (1919-) British astrophysicist
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) British chemist and x-ray crystallographer
Stephanie Kwolek (1923-) American chemist, invented Kevlar
20th Century
1913 H.J Mozans Women in Science
In US, women earning doctorates in physical and biological sciences
1920 14%
1960 dropped to 5%
Summary
Throughout history
• Women have contributed to science
• Not linear progress
depended on time, place, religion
“I think even if I tried not to choose physics, it would choose me. It is such a
fascinating subject that no matter what other work I did, I would still want
to learn about physics”
from Rachel Ivie and Stacy Guo (2006) Women Physicists Speak Again. AIP