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Women, Astronomy & UKWIAN Launch!
I have had a life-long love of astronomy and science, yet
people often ask me if I only like it because my partner likes
it too. Why, in this day and age, is astronomy still considered to be a boy’s game? There is a long history of women in
science, yet when asked, very often the first and only female
scientist people can name is Marie Curie. She was certainly
a formidable and very inspirational lady, but she is not one
of a kind. One of the first recorded female scientists was
actually Hypatia of Alexandria (370-415 - pre-dating Marie Curie by almost 1500 years!) She was a Roman
Mathematician and Astronomer, and actually invented some of her own scientific instruments. She died
for her art; a new leader was very unhappy about her teachings and had her murdered. All of her writings
and teachings were destroyed. Another famous lady scientist who also pre-dated Marie Curie by a long
way was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She was a convent educated German lady who was actually the
first person to write about the benefits of boiling drinking water for sanitation purposes. During the 19th
Century there were many more famous women scientists, and an even longer list covering the 20th Century
to present day. 1
In the 17th Century, attitudes towards education for women were staggering! In his book “At Home”, Bill
Bryson writes, “Women were instructed to avoid stimulating pastimes like reading and card games, and above
all never to use their brains more than was strictly necessary. Educating them was not simply a waste of time
of resources, but dangerously bad for their delicate constitutions”. In 1865, John Ruskin wrote an essay, in
ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014