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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
The history of women in science as never taught in schools, 16 Jan 2004
This is one of the first scientific books that I've enjoyed reading. It is factual and informative, with a story line that's compelling and interesting. Margaret Alic through her extensive researches has now put together a history of women in science. Reading it has made me more aware of women's roles in shaping, instigating and inventing a great deal of the science in the world today. It is a very factual book, where the facts speak volumes. Even from the potted history standpoint it is informative and it filled many gaps in my own general knowledge. It is well worth reading.If you women want to get a greater sense of who you are, then this book is a great way to revisit the female heritage and discover a sense of pride about our gender and their achievments. The only reason we have difficulty in finding good women role models is not because they weren't there, but because they haven't been celebrated, recognised or written about. As Margaret points out, in fact historians and the church often deliberately rewrote history to obliterate the trace and contribution of woman and dismissed or reduced the female importance to being that of fertility only. Also as women often had to publish their work under a man's name to be taken seriously, it can be deduced that there is a hidden history of women making contributions to science, that we will never unfortunately know about. When most of us are asked to name a scientist, Newton and Darwin often spring to mind, as these were mostly the names we were and still are, taught in schools. Women's contintributions generally and in science particularly, remain virtually unknown and untaught, but thanks to this book some of that history is being resurrected to reflect a much more accurate picture. Children develop a sense of who they are from many sources, including history. therefore it is important that women's history is included and valued, so that young girls can grow up to be proud of their gender heritage and of the women who have gone before and so that boys will see that each gender is of equal value. I had no idea that it was mainly women across the world who developed the science of medicine and healing and that the first Medical School where people studied from around the world was run by women, this has been conveniently forgotten. It is really only a few years since women have once again come to be accepted in what had become an almost solely male province. The book shows that the history of science and the way that it is viewed is mostly due to Aristotle's influece. He believed and promulgated the view that women were inferior and that they were deformed men! It has |
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