The Madame Curie Complex: The Hidden History of Women in Science (Women Writing Science)

The historian and author of Lillian Gilbreth examines the “Great Man” myth of science with profiles of women scientists from Marie Curie to Jane Goodall. Why is science still considered to be predominantly male profession? In The Madame Curie Complex, Julie Des Jardin dismantles the myth of the lone male genius, reframing the history of science with revelations about women’s substantial contributions to the field. She explores the lives of some of the most famous female scientists, including Jane Goodall, the eminent primatologist; Rosalind Franklin, the chemist whose work anticipated the discovery of DNA’s structure; Rosalyn Yalow, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist; and, of course, Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer whose towering, mythical status has both empowered and stigmatized future generations of women considering a life in science. With lively anecdotes and vivid detail, The Madame Curie Complex reveals how women scientists have changed the course of science—and the role of the scientist—throughout the twentieth century. They often asked different questions, used different methods, and came up with different, groundbreaking explanations for phenomena in the natural world. The Madame Curie Complex Gives Fresh Insight Into The Barriers And Successes For Women In Science, And Sheds Light On The Way Our Cultural Ideas Of Gender Have Shaped The Profession. Assistants, Housekeepers, And Interchangeable Parts : Women Scientists And Professionalization, 1880-1940. Madame Curie's American Tours : Women And Science In The 1920s ; Making Science Domestic And Domesticity Scientific : The Ambiguous Life And Ambidextrous Work Of Lillian Gilbreth ; To Embrace Or Decline Marriage And Family : Annie Jump Cannon And The Women Of The Harvard Observatory, 1880-1940 -- The Cult Of Masculinity In The Age Of Heroic Science, 1941-1962. Those Science Made Invisible : Finding The Women Of The Manhattan Project ; Maria Goeppert Mayer And Rosalind Franklin : The Politics Of Partners And Prizes In The Heroic Age Of Science -- American Women And Science In Transition, 1962- . Generational Divides : Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, Evelyn Fox Keller, Barbara Mcclintock, And Feminism After 1963 ; The Lady Trimates And Feminist Science? : Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, And Biruté Galdikas -- Apes, Corn, And Silent Springs : A Women's Tradition Of Science? Julie Des Jardins. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 I - Assistants, Housekeepers,and Interchangeable Parts:Women Scientists and Professionalization,1880–1940 ......Page 20 1. Madame Curie’s American Tours:Women and Science in the 1920s......Page 32 2. Making Science Domestic and Domesticity Scientific: The Ambiguous Life and Ambidextrous Work of Lillian Gilbreth ......Page 62 3. To Embrace or Decline Marriage and Family:Annie Jump Cannon and the Women of the Harvard Observatory, 1880–1940 ......Page 97 II - The Cult of Masculinityin the Age of Heroic Science,1941–1962 ......Page 126 4. Those Science Made Invisible: Finding the Women of the Manhattan Project ......Page 139 5. Maria Goeppert Mayer and Rosalind Franklin:The Politics of Partners and Prizes in theHeroic Age of Science ......Page 174 III - American Women and Science in Transition,1962– ......Page 218 6. Generational Divides:Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, Evelyn Fox Keller, Barbara McClintock, and Feminism after 1963 ......Page 236 7. The Lady Trimates and Feminist Science?: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas ......Page 270 Conclusion......Page 302 Acknowledgments......Page 312 Index......Page 314 Why are the fields of science and technology still considered to be predominantly male professions? The Madame Curie Complex moves beyond the most common explanations--limited access to professional training, lack of resources, exclusion from social networks of men--to give historical context and unexpected revelations about women's contributions to the sciences. Exploring the lives of Jane Goodall, Rosalind Franklin, Rosalyn Yalow, Barbara McClintock, Rachel Carson, and the women of the Manhattan Project, Julie Des Jardins considers their personal and professional stories in relation to their male counterparts--Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi--to demonstrate how the gendered culture of science molds the methods, structure, and experience of the work. With lively anecdotes and vivid detail, The Madame Curie Complex reveals how women scientists have often asked different questions, used different methods, come up with different explanations for phenomena in the natural world, and how they have forever transformed a scientist's role.