from the History of Science to Newton
By: Erica Sheldon
Gencer and Science
LINK: http://www.theory.caltech.edu/people/patricia/scigen.html
INTRODUCTION
Hi and welcome
to my introduction page for my first web project. The information you
are about to read is from a History of Science online class that I
took the fall of 2006 at the University of Oklahoma. Ironically the
name of the class is, The History of Science to Newton (HSCI
3013). I chose this topic
because at the beginning of the class we were learning about
influential people from our past history and there contributions to the
field of science. I noticed a familiar pattern, they were all
men. This is no surprise to many of us. I personally set out to
find intelligent and influential people from our past history who were
women. My goal with this project was to educate the un-educated or
mis-represented people of the 20th century the importance of learning
about influential women from our past history. Unfortunately a trend we
still see today is, men vs. women. Women and men have had
different roles
through out society back long ago, but this is no reason why we do not
teach more of them in the typical classroom. When I started this
class and chose this topic, I asked myself if I could remember a single
significant woman from the time period we were to focus on in this
class. The sad truth was that I could not mention even a single name.
Which is more than a reason to continue with the topic and research
what I and maybe many others are lacking in knowledge and
understanding. I remember the start of this project and I thought I was
biting off more than I could chew. I was afraid that I would not find
enough information on the three women that I chose, but to my surprise
I found tons of information.
I was curious to discover women who made many
contributions to the history of science, but were never recognized for
their work. What I found out was many men were given the credit for the
work done by women. Like I said before I had a hunch this was going to
be the sad truth I was going to uncover. Which is more than enough of
a reason to make this web page to honor influential women from our past
history. Of the education that I can
remember, most of the greatest scientists (who were mostly men) were
from the United States. This was the same for the women I had learned
about in my past education. I think it is unfair to deprive this type
of subject in
the teaching curriculum, even more so in today’s society of the ever
changing roles men and women are taking. I wanted to answer the
underlying
question: were the women just as smart and intelligent as the men in
discovering and developing the history of science? This was my base for
picking the three women for this project; Cleopatra, Trotula and Maria
(Winkelmann) Kirch. The subject and information within this web project
is very informative with a bit of my own opinion. What I want you, as
the reader to reflect on is not just that they are women, but without
them the men in their lives would have been lost without them.
All men who happen to read the information I have provided may learn a
little something of the opposite sex. I also
think this web project is very
informative for men to read.
I
focused on three major time periods, which are broken down into
episodes. The first episode is during the Ancient Science. I chose to
research and learn about Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. The second
episode is during Medieval Science about Trotula of Salerno. The third
and final episode was on Maria (Winkelmann) Kirch during Early Modern
Science. All of the most useful sources for each of the episodes
are listed below.
Episode #1: Primary Source
Berthelot, M. "A Dialogue of Cleopatra and the Philosophers." Collection des Anciens Alchimists Grecs. (Paris), 1888, Vol. 3.
Episode #1:Secondary Source
Harvey Ogilvie. The Biological Dictionary of Women in Science. (New York, NY, 2000), Vol.2, pg. 269.
Episode #2: Primary Source
Trotula. The Diseases of Women. Trans. Elizabeth Mason-Hohl. Los Angeles: Ward Ritshie, 1940. Trotula's manuscript, Passionibus mulierum curandorum, was originally printed by Paulus Manutius in Venice in 1547.
Episode #2: Secondary Source
Elizabeth H. Oakes, International Encyclopedia of Women Scientists (New York, Facts on File, INC.), pg. 360.
Episode #3: Primary Source
Schiebinger, Londa. The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Episode #3: Secondary Source
Proffitt, Pamela. Notable Women Scientists. Gale Group: Detroit, 1999, pgs. 290-291.
The first episode focused on the power and inner-beauty of Cleopatra and how with just those two very strong characteristics she is world known as the "Queen of Egypt." For my second episode I found the least amount of information, but she was the most interesting of the three. Even after her documantation of the health and wellness of women, which is still a reference we use today, some scholars still deny her "historical reality," just because she went by many different names in history. The third episode refers to Maria Kirch, the first women to discover a comet, but the credit was given to her husband. All three of the women I have chosen have made just as equal if not great contributions to the history of science. This web project is a dedication to the intelligence and contributions they made to the history of science. Below are direct links to each episode.
EPISODE #1: Queen of Egypt...Cleopatra. What a lady...
EPISODE #2: Trotula of Selerno...
EPISODE #3: A Great German Astronomer and a New Comet...
The chose to write this web project in an informative style. I felt this was the best way to give the reader the importantl information and contributions each woman made to the history of science. The thread that tied all the episodes together was the learning and understanding of the many different parts of the history of science. Not only were men influential and making contributions to science, but so were women. The major supporting threads were the dates that we were restricted to remain within.
I will be using an informative writing style at the beginning of each episode to give the reader a jump start to the following information. I will then use a first-person point of view in combination with a little more of an informative style to give the reader the pervial information of each woman I choose for each episode. The dates are significant in retrospect to the very beginning development and understanding of nature and science. Somewhere in my very own education, I have missed or was never taught a lot of what I have learned. This was an opportunity for me to learn more about women in history and to educate others.
I would like to take this time to thank you for stopping by and taking a glance at my very first web project. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have making it for you...the READER.
Episode #1: Primary Source
Berthelot, M. "A Dialogue of Cleopatra and the Philosophers." Collection des Anciens Alchimists Grecs. (Paris), 1888, Vol. 3.
Episode #1:Secondary Source
Harvey Ogilvie. The Biological Dictionary of Women in Science. (New York, NY, 2000), Vol.2, pg. 269.
Episode #2: Primary Source
Trotula. The Diseases of Women. Trans. Elizabeth Mason-Hohl. Los Angeles: Ward Ritshie, 1940. Trotula's manuscript, Passionibus mulierum curandorum, was originally printed by Paulus Manutius in Venice in 1547.
Episode #2: Secondary Source
Elizabeth H. Oakes, International Encyclopedia of Women Scientists (New York, Facts on File, INC.), pg. 360.
Episode #3: Primary Source
Schiebinger, Londa. The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Episode #3: Secondary Source
Proffitt, Pamela. Notable Women Scientists. Gale Group: Detroit, 1999, pgs. 290-291.
The first episode focused on the power and inner-beauty of Cleopatra and how with just those two very strong characteristics she is world known as the "Queen of Egypt." For my second episode I found the least amount of information, but she was the most interesting of the three. Even after her documantation of the health and wellness of women, which is still a reference we use today, some scholars still deny her "historical reality," just because she went by many different names in history. The third episode refers to Maria Kirch, the first women to discover a comet, but the credit was given to her husband. All three of the women I have chosen have made just as equal if not great contributions to the history of science. This web project is a dedication to the intelligence and contributions they made to the history of science. Below are direct links to each episode.
EPISODE #1: Queen of Egypt...Cleopatra. What a lady...
EPISODE #2: Trotula of Selerno...
EPISODE #3: A Great German Astronomer and a New Comet...
The chose to write this web project in an informative style. I felt this was the best way to give the reader the importantl information and contributions each woman made to the history of science. The thread that tied all the episodes together was the learning and understanding of the many different parts of the history of science. Not only were men influential and making contributions to science, but so were women. The major supporting threads were the dates that we were restricted to remain within.
I will be using an informative writing style at the beginning of each episode to give the reader a jump start to the following information. I will then use a first-person point of view in combination with a little more of an informative style to give the reader the pervial information of each woman I choose for each episode. The dates are significant in retrospect to the very beginning development and understanding of nature and science. Somewhere in my very own education, I have missed or was never taught a lot of what I have learned. This was an opportunity for me to learn more about women in history and to educate others.
I would like to take this time to thank you for stopping by and taking a glance at my very first web project. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have making it for you...the READER.