Explain what role women played in the Scientific Revolution of the 18th Century?

Question

Explain what role women played in the Scientific Revolution of the 18th Century? What role do women in science play today?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

This assignment will be worth 20% of your grade. Your paper should be creative and interesting, and should be a minimum 1500 to 2000 words in length and make use of APA style formatting. It should be well-organized and demonstrate an orderly flow of information that clearly addresses the subject chosen.

Explanation / Answer

During the 17th and 18th centuries, women were often seen as the inferior of the two sexes. They were expected to be educated only in how to take care of the house, how to cook, how to raise a child, and other common jobs that were thought to be suitable for a woman. However, as the Scientific Revolution occurred, more and more women began to take interest in studying other things such as chemistry, astronomy, and medicine. The attitudes and reactions towards the participation of women in these fields of study during the 17th and 18th centuries were both positive and negative; some people were completely against it, some men supported it, and some women supported their sex by proving themselves in their respective fields of study.

Those who were against women who actively participated in scientific research were often men but also included other women. Up until then, men were nearly always seen as the dominant figure in society as opposed to women. Therefore, when women began to apply to universities and contribute to science in the 17th and 18th century, it came as a shock to many. For example, Johann Junker, head of the University of Halle, questioned the legality of a woman attending a university or earning a doctorate probably because of his sexist views that were common in his time. When women did participate in scientific meetings and discussions, they were often met with discrimination and inequity. Samuel Pepys, an English diarist, said that when the Duchess of Newcastle was invited to a meeting of the Royal Society of Scientists, she dressed so antiquely and her behavior was so ordinary that he did not like her at all, and she did not say anything worth hearing. Also, Johann Theodor Jablonski, secretary to the Berlin Academy of Sciences, said in a letter to the Academy that he didn't believe that Maria Winkelmann should continue to work on their calendar of observations because the Academy was ridiculed for having a woman prepare its calendar. Many men also believed that when a woman practiced medicine or studied science, she was declaring war on men by doing so. Men were not the only ones who did not believe that women should study science. Marie Thiroux d'Arconville, a French anatomical illustrator, did not think that women should study medicine and astronomy because those subjects were too complicated for women.

Despite the fact that many men could not accept that women were beginning to study science, there were many men who supported women who participated in scientific activities. Many times, male scientists would allow and even encourage their wives to partake in scientific research. For example, Johannes Hevelius would often collaborate with his wife, Elisabetha Hevelius, in astronomical research. In addition, Gottfried Kirch, a German astronomer and husband of Maria Winkelmann, talked about how his wife would stay up to observe the sky and even found a comet that he did not noticed the night before. However, men who were directly associated with these types of women were not the only ones who praised them. The author of a G

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