Women In The Scientific Revolution

In the 17th and 18th Century, women in the Scientific Revolution were not credited for their work that contributed the science society. Reason being, men in science shunned the fact that women were wanting to be part of the study of science. Many people believed that the women’s role in the family was to be a good housewife and if she was a single woman her role was to do any job regarding the care of children. The attitudes and reactions both men and women had on women participating in science were mainly negative and biased. Again, men and women both had similar and different views, so some positive views did occurred.

Many men during the 17th and 18th century of the Scientific Revolution did not like the idea of women in science society,
Many women who believed in themselves and stuck their pride in becoming part of science were successful. One of those female scientist was Dorothea Erxleben. She was the first woman to be granted a German M.D from the University of Halle. She believes that everyone sees her declaring war against men because she became very successful in science as a woman, as she stated in “Inquiry into the Causes Preventing the Female Sex from Studying”. Dorothea’s purpose in the text was to convince that people saw Dorothea and other women in science as book covers, Dorothea feels that she puts herself at a higher position above those who only judge. This situation is similar to another female scientist, Emilie Du Chatelet (1706-1749). Emilie became very successful in her education at a young age, her father once told her that she would not attract any noble man with this much intelligence. She simply neglected that statement and continued her amazing work, her position as a scientist came to an end with her latest work, “The Institutions of Physics,” a book about German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. In 1666, Marie Meurdrac published book “Chemistry Simplified for Women”. The book attempts to prove that a woman’s knowledge was not less than a man’s. Meurdrac’s purpose of the book was to convince women to present their knowledge against men in science. For example , Margaret Cavendish was a scientific woman who taught herself everything there was to know from physics to astronomy. Most female views on women in science showed feminine pride. Although the negative views, women who strived throughout the Scientific Revolution became significant and contributed the 17th and 18th