The Male Ego and the Perception of Women in Science

The Male Ego and the Perception of Women in Science

In the beginning, there were as many women in science as there were men. Most myths and religions credit women for the invention of agriculture, law, civilization, math, time measurement, and medicine (Newintro). Think about how many different goddesses there have been in mythology. Since then, politics, power, pride, and prejudice have motivated many men and some women to discourage women in science. Male perception and ego have shaped contemporary thinking on women in science.

Often, women were much more prevalent and influential, in science, than was later recognized. More contemporary historians worked at discrediting women, because they refused to believe women capable enough (Alic, 3). Even today, attitudes often work against the female of the species. A textbook published in 1958 had no mention of women at all! This book was supposed to be about the history of science from 1450 to 1800.

Man's history (yes men) is dominated by wars and other such memorable events, and much less by advances. The history of science is thought of as the history of a very few men (namely Aristotle, Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein). Many of the thousands of "lesser" thinkers of history, that made the universe altering leaps of those "very few" possible, were women (Alic, 1).

Another factor, affecting the perception of historical women in science, is the historians' focusing on the universities as the center of intellectual life. The universities of the 18th century did not all deserve this reputation (Schiebinger, 17). Many socially prominent women dominated the gatherings at salons. The salons, which were held in the homes of socially prominent people, were the true centers of...

... middle of paper ...

...pers, lab assistants, assistant-mates, or even totally forgotten (Alic, 5). Most often the women had their work credited to a man, a husband, brother, father, or colleague.

Sources

4000 Years of Women in Science. http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000ws/NEWINTRO.html, acc. 4/26/1998

History of Science: The Beginning of Modern Science(from1450 to 1800), Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1958

Alic, Margaret. Hypatia's Heritage:A History of Women in Science from Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century. Beacon Press, Boston, 1986

Maria Gaetana Agnesi, http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000ws/AGNESI.html, acc.4/26/1998

Nobel, David F. A World Without Women: The Christian Clerical Culture of Western Science. Alfred A Knopf, Inc., New York, 1992

Schiebinger, Londa. The Mind has no Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Ma., 1989