Women Becoming Mathematicians looks at the lives and careers of thirty-six of the approximately two hundred women who earned Ph.D.s in mathematics from American institutions from 1940 to 1959. During this period, American mathematical research enjoyed an unprecedented expansion, fueled by the technological successes of World War II and the postwar boom in federal funding for education in the basic sciences. Yet women's share of doctorates earned in mathematics in the United States reached an all-time low. This book explores the complex interplay between the personal and professional lives of those women who embarked on mathematical careers during this period, with a view to understanding how changes in American society during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s affected their career development and identities as mathematicians.The book is based on extensive interviews with thirty-six women mathematicians of the postwar generation, as well as primary and secondary historical and sociological research. Taking a life-course approach, the book examines the development of mathematical identity across the life span, from childhood through adulthood and into retirement. It focuses on the process by which women who are actively involved in the mathematical community come to "know themselves" as mathematicians. The women's stories are instructive precisely because they do not conform to a set pattern; compelled to improvise, the women mathematicians of the 1940s and 1950s followed diverse paths in their struggle to construct a professional identity in postwar America.
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"A sophisticated, scholarly, and readable study--this is without a doubtthe best book yet written on American women mathematicians. It is a 'mustread' for women (and men) of the mathematical community, as well as forspecialists in history of science, sociology of the professions, andwomen's studies." Ann Hibner Koblitz, Women's Studies Program, Arizona State University
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Margaret A. M. Murray, formerly Professor of Mathematics at Virginia Tech, is a Visiting Professor of Mathematics and English at the University of Iowa.
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Until very recently, women have been largely absent from accounts of the social and cultural history of mathematics. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Until very recently, women have been largely absent from accounts of the social and cultural history of mathematics. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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No limit to women's success in math
18 Nov 2006
By JNH
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The reason I ordered this book was because my mother's cousin, Kenneth Wolfson, is mentioned in it several times. His support of his female students is well known and remembered by all who knew him. The book itself encourages me to pursue my own degree in mathematics. I owe my future career to my cousin and all of the women in this book. Thank you for being strong and proving to the academic world that women have a place in mathematics.
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a good book
8 Nov 2000
By K. Bold
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I first saw this book in the UT Math Library. I sat down and didn't stop reading it for 45 minutes (too bad I had class). It's really interesting and a quick read.
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