Prompt: Analyze and discuss attitudes and reactions toward the participation of women in the sciences during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Historical background: While rarely acknowledged, women actively participated in scientific research in chemistry, astronomy, biology, botany, physics, and medicine. Although most European universities and academies of science excluded women entirely, in Italy a few women held professorships in science and mathematics. Women translated scieitific works on physics, astronomy, entomology, and anatomy; they also participated in scientific discussions held in salons.
| Document 1 |
| Source: Johann Eberti, describing the German astronomer Marie Cunitz, whose 1650 book on astronomical tables clarified the work of |
|Johannes Kepler |
|She was so deeply engaged in astronomical speculation that she neglected her household. The daylight hours she spent, for the most part, in|
|bed because she had tired herself from watching the stars ar night. |
| |
|Document 2 |
| Source: Marie Meurdrac, French scientist, foreward to her "Chemistry Simplified for Women" 16666 |
|When I began this little treatise, it was solely for my own satisfaction. I objected to myself that it was not the profession of a lady to |
|teach; that she should remain silent, listen and