A Devotion to Their Science

by Rayner-Canham, Marelene F.; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey W.

• ISBN13: 9780773516427
• ISBN10: 0773516425
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-07-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Biographical essays on 23 women who worked in atomic science during the first two decades of the 20th century, including Marie Curie, Lise Meitner, Irene Joliot-Curie, and a host of lesser-known women scientists whose life stories have never been told before. "A well-researched, scholarly work that will make a significant contribution to both the history of science and the role of women in 20th-century society. It provides a fascinating picture of the difficulties and obstacles faced by women who wished to pursue a career in science."--Montague Cohen, McGill University and Rutherford Museum

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Foreword	xii
Marianne Ainley
PART ONE THE OVERVIEW	1	(28)
Early Years of Radioactivity	3	(9)
Pioneer Women of Radioactivity	12	(17)
PART TWO THE FRENCH GROUP	29	(98)
Marie Curie: Time Only for Science and Family	31	(20)
Helena M. Pycior
Ellen Gleditsch: Professor and Humanist	51	(25)
Anne-Marie Weidler Kubanek
Grete P. Grzegorek
May Sybil Leslie: From Radioactivity to Industrial Chemistry	76	(6)
Catherine Chamie: Devoted Researcher of the Institut de Radium	82	(5)
Stefania Maracineanu: Ignored Romanian Scientist	87	(5)
Miruna Popescu
Marelene F. Rayner-Canham
Geoffrey W. Rayner-Canham
Alicia Dorabialska: Polish Chemist	92	(5)
Stephanie Weinsberg-Tekel
Irene Joliot-Curie: Following in Her Mother's Footsteps	97	(27)
E. Tina Crossfield
...And Some Other Women of the French Group	124	(3)
PART THREE THE BRITISH GROUP	127	(34)
Harriet Brooks: From Research Pioneer to Wife and Mother	129	(9)
Fanny Cook Gates: A Promise Unfulfilled	138	(7)
Jadwiga Szmidt: A Passion for Science	145	(7)
Ada Hitchins: Research Assistant to Frederick Soddy	152	(4)
...And Some Other Women of the British Group	156	(5)
PART FOUR THE AUSTRO-GERMAN GROUP	161	(68)
Lise Meitner: The Foiled Nobelist	163	(29)
Sallie A. Watkins
Stefanie Horovitz: A Crucial Role in the Discovery of Isotopes	192	(4)
Marietta Blau: Discoverer of the Cosmic Ray ``Stars''	196	(9)
Leopold E. Halpern
Elizaveta Karamihailova: Bulgarian Pioneer of Radioactivity	205	(4)
Snezha Tsoneva-Mathewson
Marelene F. Rayner-Canham
Geoffrey W. Rayner-Canham
Elizabeth Rona: The Polonium Woman	209	(8)
Ida Tacke Noddack: Proposer of Nuclear Fission	217	(9)
Fathi Habashi
...And Some Other Women of the Austro-German Group	226	(3)
Epilogue: The End of an Era and a New Generation	229	(6)
Appendix: Dates of Selected Events in the History of Atomic Science (1895--1940)	235	(2)
Contributors	237	(2)
Notes	239	(64)
Index	303