Women, Science, and Myth: Gender Beliefs from Antiquity to the Present

(Hardback)

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Description

This encyclopedia surveys the scientific research on gender throughout the agesthe people, experiments, and impactof both legitimate and illegitimate findings on the scientific community, women scientists, and society at large. Women, Science, and Myth: Gender Beliefs from Antiquity to the Present examines the ways scientists have researched gender throughout history, the ways those results have affected society, and the impact they have had on the scientific community and on women, women scientists, and women's rights movements. In chronologically organized entries, Women, Science, and Myth explores the people and experiments that exemplify the problematic relationship between science and gender throughout the centuries, with particular emphasis on the 20th century. The encyclopedia offers a section on focused cross-period themes such as myths of gender in different scientific disciplines and the influence of cultural norms on specific eras of gender research. It is a timely and revealing resource that celebrates science's legitimate accomplishments in understanding gender while unmasking the sources of a number of debilitating biases concerning women's intelligence and physical attributes.

Reviews

An outstanding reference highly recommended for women's studies collections. * Midwest Book Review *
An extensive appendix comprised of statistical tables covers high school, SAT, and college data regarding female participation in mathematics and the sciences will be invaluable for debates or persuasive essays. * School Library Journal *
This book skillfully weaves together issues concerning women of science and societal expectations of them. . . . The style of writing is informative and engaging without being too technical. Chapters are complete yet brief, and contain references for further reading. This book would be a great addition to any college or university library. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students; general readers. * Choice *
There are many publications available that separately treat biographies of women in the sciences, philosophy of gender in science, and history of scientific theories on gender. This resource weaves all of these strands into an enlightening picture of the effect of gender in the field of science. Highly recommended. * Reference & User Services Quarterly *
Every so often, a book encapsulates a subject so well that one is at a loss to say anything bad about it. Rosser has edited such a book. . . . The book, itself, is well made and will survive many readings. Its 25-page glossary is invaluable to those new to the subject and unfamiliar with its specific language use and definitions. . . . This title is recommended for upper-division undergraduates, graduates, and anyone who wants to know what women working in the sciences have done, are doing, and will do in the future. * ARBA *
Although this is nominally a reference book, it could just as easily make sense to shelve it in the stacks. It will be highly useful for undergraduate students looking for a starting place for their research or ideas about how to focus their themes. * Feminist Collections *

Author Bio

Sue V. Rosser, PhD, is dean of the Ivan Allen College and professor at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA.