The History Of Women And Science - Research Paper Example

The History of Women and Science Science and technology have been considered the field of men for a long time. However, women have made remarkable contributions to the area of science and technology. There have been numerous far-famed and women who have made crucial discoveries and inventions in world of science. The contribution of women in science dates back to many decades. There are some people who consider Merit Ptah, as the first woman to be a scientist. Merit Ptah was famous in 2700 BCE shortly after Imhotep who was the first person who was honored for his intellectual achievement. Women scientists have become the objects of a new field of study. For instance, in the last fifteen years a new of field of inquiry referred to as Women and Science, Gender and Science or a combination of the two. The new fields have look at the inequalities that women have suffered in the profession of science (Schlesinger 19). During the early times, women were not allowed to participate in any professional activity. This is because they were considered as weak beings, were only allowed to stay at home, bear children, do home chores, and take care of the children. Therefore, they spent much of their time staying at home as wives to take care of their children and their husbands. This did not give them a chance to study and contribute to the field of science. Professionalism is something that women had to live for men. Men were considered as the breadwinners for their families. Therefore, they took up professional roles to provide for their families. In addition, in the centuries before the 19th century, societies considered women subordinate to men. For instance, women were considered disruptive of serious intellectual excellence. For instance, Ancient Hebrew traditions provided that by coming into contact with women, men lost their ability to prophesy. In the middle ages, the life of the brain was considered celibate. Therefore, intellectual life was done in monasteries. For instance, professors at the university of Cambridge and Oxford were not allowed to marry. Therefore, women were not allowed to work alongside men or engage in things and subjects that were considered difficult or complex. This was preserved for men to prove their masculinity. These issues made it difficult for women to venture into the field of science and other professional fields. However, this is not to say that no woman got into the field of science. Women who came from rich families or those who had supporting husbands managed to acquire education and venture into the field of science (Schlesinger 19). One of the earliest women known in science was Hypatia and was a mathematician and an astrologer. She lived in Alexandria in the 4th century. She followed her father who was a professor of mathematics and philosophy. As states, students flocked into her classes to listen to her lectures. Hypatia wrote several mathematical texts. However, the texts that she wrote were destroyed when the library at the Alexandria University was sacked and burnt down. Hypatia was well respected for her contributions in science. However, she was murdered for her participation in in political struggles between the Neo-Platonists and the Christians. When the modern science emerged in the 17th century, the institutional base of science shifted. Several societies were established during the seventeenth century, such as the Royal Society of London and the Academie des Sciences in Paris (Schlesinger 25). However, women were not allowed to participate in these societies for a period of about 300 years. Evidence from the seventeenth and eighteenth century reveals that a significant number of women were active in science and were waiting to take their place in the new institutions of science. For instance, Maria Winkelmann who was a German Philosopher was one of those women. Of all the people who were working in the fields of science, in Germany, only 14 percent were women. During that time, it was problematic for women to perform activities while in the field of science. For instance, Winkelmann was forced to publish her astronomical work and observations in the name of her husband who was ill and towards his death. She petitioned the Berlin Academy for appointment as assistant astronomer and calendar maker. She requested that she be appointed on the position of her husband. However, her request was declined. This set a very negative precedent for women scientists. The first woman to be admitted into the Academy was Physicist Lise Meitner who discovered nuclear fission alongside Otto Hahn in the 1940s. She was only admitted as a correspondence member (Schlesinger 39). Laura Bassi became the first woman in the modern times to teach at the university. Her field, physics was difficult for women to enter. After being disputed in public in Latin, she was awarded her doctorate and was appointed by the pope to teach at the University of Bologna. She had twelve children. This was one of the factors that acted as the setbacks for her and many other women. In the nineteenth century, women continued to venture into the field of science. Their numbers increased. Notable among the women who became famous in the nineteenth century, in the field of science was Sophie Kovaleskia. She was born in Russia and was famous for her contribution in partial differential equations. In Russia, women were not allowed to study in universities. In addition, they were not allowed to cross borders. Therefore, Kovaleskia had to get married in the white marriage that was one of convenience to her freedom of movement. The hardships that Kovaleskia experienced as she sought for a way she could study shows the challenges those women experienced as they struggled to get recognition in many fields including that of science. However, the women did not relent because of the difficulties that they experienced. To show the inferior position that women were put into, Kovaleskia’s head was weighed alongside that of Helmholtz. Kovaleskia’s head weighed 1385 grams while that of Helmholtz weighed 4440 grams. The weight of Kovaleskia’s body represented a victory while that of Kovaleskia has represented the weight of her body (Schlesinger 67). It is significant to designate that there are women whose notable work in science was recognized through Nobel prizes. Marie Curie travelled in the 1870s to further her education, in Paris where she encountered and married Pierre Curie. As was identical to many women, she got her legitimacy through Pierre. She won two Nobel prizes. She got the first prize in 1903 for her contribution in radiation with her husband. She got a second Nobel Prize in 1911, in organic chemistry. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the participation of women in the field of science has remarkably improved. Despite the fact that the improvement of women in science has been slow, it has been steady. After, women were accepted to enroll in universities especially in the U.S, at the beginning of the 20th century, women flooded Ph.D. programs in science and other fields. The numbers of women rose between the 1900s to the 1930s. Between 1930 and 1960, the numbers of women declined because of fascism and conservatism brought by the cold war (Schlesinger 79). The utmost suffering that women have experienced in the field of science is hierarchical discrimination and sex typing of occupations. This means women faced a lot of difficulties to rise in ranks and get from their traditional home occupations to office work. Despite these hardships, women have flourished in the field of science. In conclusion, the development of women in the field of science was very slow and met various setbacks especially before the twentieth century. Women had to struggle to get education and recognition, often having to get married to get chances and recognition in science. However, from the twentieth century onwards, women have had the chances to excel in science because of their admittance into universities. Work cited Schlesinger, Londa. “Women in Science: Historical Perspectives.” http://www.stsci.edu/stsci/meetings/WiA/schieb.pdf Read More