 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||
| Copyright © 2012. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM
conversations with eminent women in science
elga wasserman
Joseph Henry Press
Washington, D.C.
OCR for page R2
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
Joseph Henry Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C 20418
The Joseph Henry Press, an imprint of the National Academy Press, was created with the goal of making books on science, technology, and health more widely available to professionals and the public. Joseph Henry was one of the founders of the National Academy of Sciences and a leader of early American science.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this volume are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences or its affiliated institutions.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wasserman, Elga R. (Elga Ruth)
The door in the dream : conversations with eminent women in science / Elga R. Wasserman
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-309-06568-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Women biologists—United States Biography. 2. Women scientists—United States Biography. I. Title.
QH26.W375 1999
305.43′5′0973—dc21
99-6428
CIP
Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
OCR for page R3
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
To
Lisa, Aaron, Rebecca, Sophie, Anika, Noah, and Sam
OCR for page R4
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
This page in the original is blank.
OCR for page R5
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
xiii
1
INTRODUCTION
1
2
A FIRMAMENT OF STARS
13
3
NEW OPPORTUNITIES, TRADITIONAL EXPECTATIONS
25
4
FINDING A NICHE: WOMEN BORN BEFORE 1920
31
Katherine Esau,
33
Berta V. Scharrer,
34
Ruth Patrick,
36
Rita Levi-Montalcini,
41
Mildred Cohn,
43
Gertrude B. Elion,
46
OCR for page R6
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
5
FIERCELY INDEPENDENT: WOMEN BORN IN THE 1920s
51
Marian E. Koshland,
53
Isabella L. Karle,
62
Esther M. Conwell,
68
Cathleen S. Morawetz,
70
Janet D. Rowley,
76
Mary Ellen Avery,
79
Elizabeth D. Hay,
85
Vera C. Rubin,
86
6
CAUGHT IN A TIDAL WAVE OF CHANGE: WOMEN BORN IN THE 1930s
91
Maxine F. Singer,
92
Mary-Lou Pardue,
97
Margaret G. Kidwell,
102
Myriam P. Sarachik,
110
P. S. Goldman-Rakic,
119
Mary K. Gaillard,
127
7
THROUGH OPEN DOORS: WOMEN BORN AFTER 1940
135
Judith P. Klinman,
136
Joan A. Steitz,
144
Nancy J. Kopell,
150
Susan S. Taylor,
153
Jane Lubchenco,
160
Pamela A. Matson,
163
8
SHARED EXPERIENCES AND CONCERNS
171
9
BALANCING CAREER AND FAMILY
189
10
RIGHTING THE BALANCE
199
11
CONCLUSION
215
OCR for page R7
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
NOTES
223
APPENDIXES
A ACADEMY MEMBERS SURVEYED, LISTED ALPHABETICALLY
231
B ACADEMY MEMBERS SURVEYED, LISTED BY SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE
235
C SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
241
INDEX
243
OCR for page R8
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
This page in the original is blank.
OCR for page R9
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
PREFACE
by Rita Colwell
A poster-maker in the 1970s created a timeline of prominent people throughout history. It included many of the great men—Gandhi, Socrates, Confucius, Shakespeare—but only a few women, notably novelist Jane Austen and chemist Marie Curie.
The same poster-maker, perhaps chastened by changing times, later published a timeline of prominent women. It included only two scientists, the ever-present Marie Curie and anthropologist Margaret Mead. Today, two decades later, there are still but a few women among the leading figures in science. Why? Because there are still relatively few women scientists. It is an underrepresentation that we cannot afford to allow to continue into the new century.
Intelligence is not linked to the Y chromosome; to exclude half the population from scientific inquiry is to deny us, as a nation, an extraordinary amount of ability and intelligence. The need for scientific brainpower will only increase as we proceed into an information age in which science and engineering will touch our lives like never before. Add to that the demands of global competition and it's clear that to prosper in the 21st century will require the broadest scientific contribution possible. The cost of excluding any group has simply become too high.
Why are women underrepresented in science today? I wish there
OCR for page R10
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
were a single reason because then the problem could be easily targeted and changed. But the answer is not simple. In part, it lies in what I call the “valley of death” in education, when girls grades 4 through 8 are, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, discouraged from pursuing science and engineering. Not only is the invitation not extended, but even those with a natural bent toward science are too often directed elsewhere. Add to this a dearth of role models (at least ones they might have been told about) and a lack of mentors, and it's no surprise that these girls pass science by.
I certainly felt this as an aspiring young scientist. I was—perhaps naively—puzzled when my ideas were not taken as seriously as were the ideas of the aspiring young male scientists around me. I second-guessed myself; I wondered whether my ideas were simply too strange to be taken seriously. But with the encouragement of a good mentor—Purdue University's Dorothy Powelson, a bacteriologist in days when women rarely held such titles—I became entranced by the world I saw through the lens of a microscope. My excitement fueled me as I scrambled over the roadblocks then facing would-be women scientists. My willingness to work hard (I counted 186,000 fruit flies as part of my masters degree research) served me well.
Now, having achieved success, I look back and realize that I was indeed climbing a steep hill and that someone was constantly rolling boulders into my path. Our task today is to prevent someone from rolling those same boulders into the path of young women who seek to make their contribution to the world in science.
But, you may ask, can this still be happening? Haven't we progressed beyond such narrow thinking? The answer is mixed; yes, we have progressed—but not enough. No one says, as they did to me in the 1950s, that they don't want to “waste” a fellowship on a woman. That's progress. But when the scientific establishment hands out the annual awards, it gives the top prizes to just enough women to avoid being sued for bias—but no more. That is not progress enough.
Even today, those of us who have made it in science feel the sting of prejudice. In meetings with (mostly white male) counterparts in government, I still find that all too often my statements are met with silence. But a few minutes later, when the same thought is expressed
OCR for page R11
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
by a man in the group, the response is: “Oh, what a remarkable suggestion!”
This is both amusing and frustrating. Instead of letting it anger me, I redouble my efforts to make sure that my ideas, even if they are hijacked along the way, produce the outcomes I wanted. Such are the adaptations that we, as women in science, must make. The stories of many of the women profiled in “The Door in the Dream” parallel my personal trek. All have the mental toughness to passionately pursue interests they love, and to persevere in the face of obstacles. Eventually, like myself, they have reaped the rewards of being undeterred and true to themselves.
Enthusiasm is evident in the words of Mildred Cohn (pp. 43-46), who notes, “the most important aspect of my career is that it has been fun—the joy of predictive results materializing, the even more rewarding experience of serendipitously discovering an entirely unexpected phenomenon, and the special gratification of having the results applied to medical problems.”
Or consider the story of hematologist and oncologist Janet Rowley (pp. 76-79), who initially completed only the minimal requirements to license as an M.D. Several years later, seeking a greater challenge, she broadened her work and ultimately discovered the abnormal rearrangements in cells of leukemia patients — a discovery that has greatly advanced diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
These women succeed by doing excellent work. When Gertrude Elion was thwarted in her efforts to earn a doctoral degree, she kept going. Eventually, the importance of her scientific contribution resulted in the bestowal of the Nobel Prize and more than twenty-five honorary doctorates.
These women are creative. After the birth of twins, Marian Koshland (pp. 53-62) was unsure how to handle five children and a career. Her husband suggested that if she were to work half-time—but spend all of that time on research—she could, as she put it, “do all the crazy things that nobody else can do.” Which is what she did, trying experiments that others on a more solid career-track might not have dared to try. It paid off.
Like most women, these women were skilled in doing two things
OCR for page R12
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
(or more) at once. Each raised a family with one hand while pursuing their science with the other. It's a balancing act that many women today, no matter what their profession, know well. The Door in the Dream provides readers, whether scientists or not, with a glimpse of the excitement and rewards to be found in scientific research as we confront a vast range of unsolved problems waiting to be tackled.
The tough challenges facing women in treks through science and education are still far from over. But, as scientists, we know the value of both reason and imagination and we know perseverance can carry us on great journeys.
OCR for page R13
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to express my profound thanks to the women members of the National Academy of Sciences who, by graciously sharing their thoughts and experiences with me, helped me gain a fresh perspective on the complex issues confronting contemporary women scientists and other women professionals. Without their unstinting cooperation this book could not have been written.
This book was also shaped by many stimulating discussions with friends and colleagues. I am particularly grateful to Christine Chinlund, Dorrit Cohn, Faye Crosby, Patricia Graham, Dudley Hershbach, Lilli Hornig, Malkah Notman, Etta Onat, Edith Ruina, Carol Schreiber, Ellen Switzer, Sheila Tobias, and Susan Wolfson, for their insights and thoughtful comments about women professionals and for encouraging me to pursue this project. I thank Bob Lichter for keeping me current about the latest projects regarding the status of women scientists. I also learned much from observing my own children and their growing families as they try to find the time and energy to balance their personal and professional lives in such disparate disciplines as journalism, medicine, and science. I thank my husband, Harry Wasserman, for forcing me to clarify my thinking in response to his perceptive critiques and for enabling me to complete this project as
OCR for page R14
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
a result of his volunteering to preside in our kitchen as a devoted, creative chef while I completed this book.
I am indebted to Stephen Mautner, executive editor of the Joseph Henry Press, for sharing my vision for this book and for guiding it to completion with unfailing encouragement and patience and to my editor, Gretchen Bratvold, for helping me create a coherent whole out of many disparate parts. I was especially fortunate to have had the able assistance of Mary Lou Oates and Sheila Klein, who proved indispensable in transcribing the interviews for this book.
I thank the Spencer Foundation for providing funding for this project and the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, for agreeing to accept the original letters and interview transcripts on which this book is based as part of its archives.
OCR for page R15
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM
OCR for page R16
THE DOOR IN THE DREAM: conversations with eminent women in science
This page in the original is blank.
