Hypatia's Heritage (Beacon Paperback)

by Margaret Alic

Paperback, 1986

Status

Available

Genres

Publication

Beacon Press (1986), Edition: First Edition, Paperback, 248 pages

Description

This work reaffirms women's substantial contributions to scientific knowledge throughout the ages, revisiting names such as Hypatia of Alexandra, astrologer and philosopher Hildegaard of Bingen, Lady Mary Montegu - who developed inoculation against smallpox, the chemist Marie Levoissier, Caroline Hershel - a renowned astrologer, Ada Lovelace - whose work contributed to the beginnings of computer science, Mary Somerville the queen of 19th-century science and, of course, Marie Curie. In doing so she both reinforces women's contributions to history and outlines the precedents for women making great strides in contemporary science.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Devil_llama

A look at the history of women in science. It is a bit too scholarly to be of general interest; for those with an interest in either the history of science or gender studies, it has a lot of good material. The main problem is that there are too many places where the author reports things as factual

that we really have no way of knowing, things in pre-history where the knowledge is only tentative. She reports then in a way that promulgates an idea now out of favor (but still popular when the book was written, and still popular in some feminist circles) that women built, created, and invented nearly everything in prehistoric times. This might have happened, but she puts no qualifiers in her writing. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the work; fortunately, it gets better once she gets into historical times, though she is perhaps somewhat more ready to report female-friendly societies in ancient times than the evidence supports. Other than that, a good source for anyone interested in the female contribution to science.

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LibraryThing member tole_lege

Useful introdcution - dated but readable

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