Just as hostile as had been the clergy to the admission of women to
ecclesiastical office, so unwilling were many prejudiced scholars to
admit women into the sacred realms of science. By hundreds of arguments
they tried to prove the inability of women to do any deeply scientific
work. They explained that the hard study would impair their health,
their chances of marriage, and their true destination as mothers. Higher
education would make women unfit for domestic life, and, besides, they
would hardly produce anything of real scientific value.
If these learned gentlemen would have taken the trouble to make
themselves somewhat more acquainted with the history of science they
would have found the names of numerous women on record, who, at their
time, were among the leaders in the most abstruse sciences. Several
centuries before Christ Hellas as well as Rome had a number of brilliant
female philosophers, among them =Damo=, the daughter of Pythagoras, who
lived about 580–500 B. C. She was one of his favorite disciples, and to
her the great savant entrusted all his writings, enjoining her not to
make public all the secrets of his philosophy. This command she strictly
obeyed, though tempted by large offers while she was struggling with
poverty.
Socrates, the great philosopher, declares that he learned of a woman,
=Diotima=, the “divine philosophy,” how to find from corporeal beauty
the beauty of the soul, the angelical mind. Diotima lived in Greece,
about 468 B. C.
=Arete= is known as the daughter of Aristippus of Cyrene, the founder of
the Cyrenaic system of philosophy, who flourished about 380 B. C. She
was carefully instructed by her father, and after his death taught his
system with great success. =Leontium=, living about 350 B. C., was a
disciple of Epicure, and wrote in defense of his philosophy. =Tymicha=,
a Lacedaemonian, was the most celebrated female philosopher of the
Pythagorean school. When she, in 330 B. C., was brought before
Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, as a prisoner, he made her very
advantageous offers, if she would reveal the mysteries of Pythagorean
science; but she rejected them all with scorn and contempt. And when he
threatened her with torture, she instantly bit off her tongue, and spat
it in the tyrant’s face, to show him that no pain could make her violate
the pledge of secrecy.
Of =Hipparchia=, a lady of Thrace, who lived about 328 B. C., it is
known that her attachment to learning was so great, that having attended
several lectures of Crates, the cynic, she resolved to marry him though
he was old, ugly, and deformed. She accompanied him everywhere to public
entertainments and other places, which was not customary with Greecian
women. She also wrote several philosophical theses, and reasonings and
questions proposed to Theodorus, the atheist; but none of her writings
are extant.
Ancient Rome too had a number of female philosophers, among them
=Cornelia=, “the mother of the Gracchi.” She frequently gave public
lectures and was more fortunate with her disciples than with her sons.
It was Cicero, who said of her that, had she not been a woman, she would
have deserved the first place among philosophers. In what esteem she was
held is shown by the fact that a statue was erected to her with the
inscription, “Cornelia, Mater Gracchorum.” She died about 230 B. C.
The most renowned female philosopher of the classic times was =Hypatia=,
the lovely daughter of Theon, the head of the famous Alexandrian School
in Alexandria, Egypt. Born in 370 A. D., Hypatia was taught by her
father and acquired such extensive knowledge and learning, that the
Bycantine Church historian Socrates, as well as Nicephorus placed her
far above all the philosophers of her time. Several other learned
contemporaries praise her in similar terms. Sinesius, bishop of
Ptolemais, never mentions her without the profoundest respect, and in
terms of affection little short of adoration. In a letter to his brother
Euoptius he writes: “Salute the most honored and the most beloved of
God, the Philosopher Hypatia, and that happy society, which enjoys the
blessing of her divine voice.” And in a long epistle he sends her with
the manuscript of a book, he asks her opinion and states his resolution
not to publish the book without her approbation.
Hypatia succeeded her father in the government of the Alexandrian
School, teaching from the chair where Ammonius, Hieracles, and other
celebrated philosophers had taught; and this at a time, when men of
immense learning abounded in Alexandria and in other parts of the Roman
empire. In fact her renown was so universally acknowledged, that she had
always a crowded auditorium. What a subject for an able artist, to
present this beautiful woman in her chair, with the flower of all the
youth of Africa, Asia and Europe sitting at her feet, eagerly imbibing
knowledge from this oracle of wisdom.
Socrates states that she was consulted by the magistrates of Alexandria
in all important cases. This frequently brought her among the greatest
assemblages of men without causing the least censure of her manners.
“Considering the confidence and authority which she had acquired by her
learning,” says Socrates, “she sometimes came to the judges with
singular modesty. Nor was she anything abashed to appear thus among a
crowd of men; for all persons, by reason of her extraordinary
discretion, did at the same time both reverence and admire her.”
Unfortunately this wonderful woman was to become a martyr of science.
The population of Alexandria was split into three hostile groups—the
Pagans, the Jews, and the Christians. The latter, under the leadership
of the patriarch Cyril, assailed in violent zeal Jews as well as pagans,
and heretics or supposed heretics alike, driving them by thousands from
the city, destroying their synagogues and temples, and pillaging their
houses. It was during one of these riots, that the illustrious Hypatia
was attacked by a mob of vicious monks, torn from her carriage, dragged
into a church, stripped naked and clubbed to death. Then the murderers
in fanatic frenzy tore the body to pieces, carried the limbs to a public
square and burnt them to ashes. This happened in Lent 415.
All the writings of Hypatia, among them her treatise “On the
Astronomical Canon of Diophantus” and another “On the Conics of
Apollonius” are lost. Most probably they too were destroyed by the
fanatic Christian mobs, who, after the murder of Hypatia, extinguished
the Greek School of philosophers and scientists at Alexandria.—
Astronomy, probably the most ancient of the sciences, has since early
days exerted a singular attraction on women.
Herman Davis, in his essay “Women Astronomers,” published in the reports
of Columbia University, New York, gives the names of a large number of
women astronomers, beginning with several of classic times. Of the
Egyptians he mentions =Aganice=, =Athyrta=, =Berenice=, =Hipparchia= and
=Occelo=, who were connected with the Alexandrian School. Of the Greeks
he names =Aristocle= and =Athenais=, and of Thessaly =Aglaonice=. But
nothing definite is known about their achievement.
Davis likewise gives an account of =Hildegarde=, abbess of the monastery
on Mount St. Rupert near Bingen on the Rhine. This learned woman, who
lived from 1099 to 1180, wrote a book in Latin, in which some marvelous
statements are claimed to have been made: 1. that the Sun is in the
midst of the firmament retaining by its force the stars which move
around it; 2. that when it is cold in the Northern hemisphere it is warm
in the Southern, that the celestial temperature may thus be in
equilibrium; 3. that the stars not only shine with unequal brilliancy
but are themselves really unequal in magnitude; 4. that as blood moves
in the veins and makes them pulsate, so do the stars move and send forth
pulsations of light. “If even one-half of these marvelous statements are
found in Hildegarde’s writings as early as the 12th Century,” says
Davis, “then this woman may well be classed with the great forerunners
of modern astronomy, with Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, for she was
three centuries earlier than the first of them.”
The first female astronomer of whom we have more intimate information,
was =Marie Cunitz=, born in 1610 as the eldest daughter of a physician
in Silesia. Commanding an extraordinary general culture, her principal
study was mathematics and astronomy. Her tables, published under the
title “Urania Propitia, sive Tabulæ Astronomicæ,” gained for her a great
reputation, and the by-name “the Silesian Pallas.” Dedicated to the
Emperor Ferdinand III. the book was published in Latin and in German in
1650 and 1651.
Another noted astronomer was =Caroline Lucretia Herschel=, born in 1750
at Hanover, Germany. In 1772 she accompanied her brother William to
England, and when he accepted the office of astronomer-royal, she became
his constant assistant in his observations. In this capacity she
succeeded in discovering independently eight comets, five of which had
not been observed before. Also she discovered many of the small stellar
nebulæ which were included in her brother’s catalogue. For her many
contributions to astronomy in 1835 she was presented by the Astronomical
Society with their gold medal, and was also elected an honorary member.
When the memoirs of Miss Herschel were published, the editor, in
describing her character, said: “Great men and great causes have always
some helper of whom the outside world knows but little. These helpers
and sustainers have the same quality in common—absolute devotion and
unwavering faith in the individual or the cause. Seeking nothing for
themselves, thinking nothing of themselves, they have all the intense
power of sympathy, a noble love of giving themselves for the service of
others. Of this noble company of unknown helpers Caroline Herschel was
one.”—
This capacity of self-denial distinguished likewise a number of other
women, whose names are known in the history of astronomy, as for
instance =Theresa= and =Madeline Manfredi=, the daughters of Eustachio
Manfredi, from 1674 to 1739 director of the observatory of Bologna.
Further, =Marie Margarethe Kirch=, who assisted her husband, the
astronomer Kirch, in the upper Lausatia; Madame =Lepante=, the wife of
the famous clock-maker Jean Andre Lepante; and nearer our own time,
there is =Maria Mitchell=, born 1818 at Nantucket, Mass., who at an
early age became the assistant of her father. Carrying on a series of
independent observations, she was in 1865 appointed professor of
astronomy in Vassar College.
=Emilie de Bréteuil=, =Antonie C. Asher=, =Elizabeth von Matt=,
=Wilhelmine Witte= and =Agnes Mary Clerke= likewise distinguished
themselves in astronomy. The last named lady published in 1885 a
“History of Astronomy” and in 1890 “The System of the Stars.” These
writings, conspicuous for a careful sifting and due assimilation of
facts, with a happy diction that is at the same time both popular and
scientific, place the author in the foremost rank of writers on
astronomy.—
As an eminent mathematician, linguist and philosopher =Maria Gaetana
Agnesi= is known to every student of science. Born 1718 at Milan, she
gave early indication of extraordinary ability and devoted herself to
the abstract sciences. In mathematics she attained such consummate
skill, that, when her father, professor of mathematics at Bologna, died,
the Pope allowed her to succeed him. In this capacity she wrote her
famous work: “Instituzions Analitiche ad Uso Gioventu Italiana,” which
was published at Milan in 1748. Its first volume treats of the analysis
of finite quantities, and the second of the analysis of infinitesimals.
The able mathematician John Colson, professor at the University of
Cambridge, considered this work so excellent, that he studied Italian in
order to translate it into English. Under the title “Analytical
Institutions” this translation was published in 1801, to do honor to
Maria Agnesi, and also to prove that women have minds capable of
comprehending the most abstruse studies.
Another female mathematician, =Sophie Germain=, born in 1776 in Paris,
won the grand prize, offered by the Institute of France for the best
memoir giving the mathematical theory of elastic surfaces and comparing
it with experience. This question had come up in 1808. Great
mathematicians were not wanting in Paris at that time—Lagrange, Laplace,
Poisson, Fourier, and others, but none of them were inclined to tackle
the question. Lagrange, in fact, had said that it could not be solved by
any of the then known mathematical methods. The offer was twice renewed
by the Institute, and in 1816 the prize was conferred upon Sophie
Germain, who in 1808 as well as in 1810 had made two unsuccessful
attempts to solve the difficult question. The same woman distinguished
herself by a number of other valuable papers and philosophical writings.
In more recent years =Sonja Kowalewska=, a Russian, who had studied
mathematics at the universities of Berlin and Goettingen, became famous
as the winner of the Prix Bordin, offered by the Academy of Paris. Later
on, as a professor of mathematics in Stockholm, she wrote a number of
excellent professional works, but died there in her fortieth year.
Among the British scientific writers of the 19th Century the most famous
was =Mary Somerville=, whom Laplace called the most learned woman of her
age and the only woman who understood his works. In translating his
brilliant work “Mécanique Celeste,” she greatly popularized its form.
Its publication in 1831 under the title of “The Mechanism of the
Heavens” at once made her famous. Her own works: “Connections of
Physical Science,” “Physical Geography” and “Molecular and Microscopic
Science” have been declared masterworks, distinguished by a clear and
crisp style, and the underlying enthusiasm for the subject.
In the history of chemistry the name of =Marie Curie= will be forever
connected with the wonderful discovery of Radium and Radio-activity.
Born on November 7, 1867, at Warsaw as Marja Sklodowska she came to
Paris in 1888 and studied at the Faculté des Sciences. In 1895 she
married Professor Pierre Curie and joined him in his chemical
investigations. It was in 1898 that she published a most valuable work
on metals in solution. Her investigations in collaboration with her
husband led to the discovery of two new bodies: Polonium and Radium,
which are found in certain minerals, especially in pitch blende in a
state of extreme solution; as a matter of fact, to the extent only of a
few decigrammes to the ton of mineral for Radium, and much less in the
case of Polonium. The separation of these elements presented extreme
difficulties.
Further investigations led to the observation of most interesting
phenomena in connection with these bodies—chemical effects, luminous
effects, effects of heating, etc. New realms of science were
disclosed—the science of Radio-active phenomena. In recognition of these
discoveries in 1903 the Nobel Prize was awarded to Professor Curie and
his wife. And when Mrs. Curie, after the tragic death of her husband,
accomplished the “isolation” of Radium and also determined its atomic
weight, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for a second time in 1911. At
present Mrs. Curie is Director of the Physico-Chemical Department of the
University of Paris.
For valuable research work in bacteriology =Dr. Rhoda Erdmann=, a former
assistant of the famous professor Robert Koch in Berlin, became most
favorably known. Having published several excellent treatises on the
amoeba and protozoa, she followed in 1913 a call to the
Sheffield-Institute of Yale University.
In the wide fields of archæology and ethnology likewise several women
have achieved remarkable results. Among those scientists who devoted
themselves to the study of archæology and the ancient history of America
the name of =Zelia Nuttall= is well known. She is the author of many
interesting essays on the relics left by the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Mayas.
Science is also indebted to her for the so-called “Codex Nuttall,” now
preserved in the Peabody-Museum at Cambridge, Mass.
Another noteworthy ethnologist was =Erminnie Adele Smith=, who, as
compiler of the famous Iroquois-English Dictionary, was distinguished by
being elected the first woman member of the New York Academy of Science.
=Alice Cunningham Fletcher= made most valuable investigations about the
religious and social conditions of several Indian tribes of the Far
West, especially of the Sioux, Omaha, and Pawnee Indians. Her very
exhaustive studies have been published in the Annual Reports of the
Bureau of American Ethnology.
The same reports contain highly interesting papers by =Matilda Cox
Stevenson= and =Tilly E. Stevenson= about the mythology, esoteric
societies and sociology of the Zuni Indians.
=Miss Elsie Clews Parsons= in New York has published valuable monographs
about the folk-lore of the Pueblo Indians and the Negroes of the Bahama
Islands. =A. M. Czaplicka=, =Mary Kingsley=, =Barbara Freire-Marreco=,
=Adele Breton=, =Mrs. Jochelson-Brodsky=, and =Maria Tubino= are
likewise most favorably known as writers on archæology and ethnology.
For a number of years =Johanna Mestorf= has held the position of
director of the Museum of Antiquities of Schleswig-Holstein.
=Cornelia Horsford=, the learned daughter of the late Professor Eben
Horsford of Cambridge, Mass., made great efforts to settle many
questions in regard to the early voyages of discovery by the Norsemen to
Greenland and Vinland. In the pursuit of these studies she sent several
scientific expeditions to Iceland as well as to Greenland and published
a number of valuable essays, among them “Graves of the Northmen”;
“Dwellings of the Saga Time in Iceland, Greenland and Vinland”; “Vinland
and its Ruins”; and “Ruins of the Saga-Times.”
=Anne Pratt= is known as an able botanist. And =Eleanor Anne Ormerod=
has been hailed in England as “the Protector of Agriculture,” as she
organized the valuable “Annual Series of Reports on Injurious Insects
and Pests,” distributed by the Government.
Among the explorers of the Dark Continent a Dutch lady, =Miss
Alexandrine Tinné=, created a sensation by her daring journeys in the
upper Nile regions. During her first expedition, which lasted from 1861
to 1864, she penetrated great stretches of unknown territory, and was
the first to enter the land of the Niam Niam. Several members of her
expedition died from the terrible hardships that had to be overcome.
After her return to Cairo Miss Tinné started in January, 1869, on a
still more hazardous expedition, which was to proceed from Tripoli to
Lake Tchad, and from there by way of Wadai, Darfur, and Kordofan to the
Upper Nile. But while her caravan was on the route from Murzuk to Rhat,
the daring explorer was murdered by her own escort.
An English lady, =Florence Caroline Dixie=, explored the wilderness of
Central Patagonia. =Isabelle Bishop= became known for her extensive
travels through Asia, and the masterful descriptions of those countries
she had traversed. Her best work is “Korea and Her Neighbors.”
=Therese, Princess of Bavaria=, wrote several highly interesting works
about her extensive travels in Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and
the tropical regions of Brazil. =Cecilie Seler=, the wife of the famous
archæologist Eduard Seler, is the author of the valuable book “On
Ancient Roads in Mexico and Guatemala.”
While these examples—which might be increased by many others—give ample
proof of woman’s ability in regard to scientific work, it must be
stated, that, up to the middle of the 19th Century, men did very little
to encourage their struggling sisters in this line of activity. Indeed,
there are not a few instances of strong disinclination on the part of
statesmen as well as of scientists, to smooth woman’s road to higher
education. Centuries passed before women succeeded in gaining the right
to follow their studies in colleges and universities, a right they had
enjoyed in Italy during the 10th and 11th Centuries as well as during
the Renaissance.
The first institution of modern times, that admitted women on the same
footing with men, was Oberlin College in Ohio, founded in 1833 and open
to all irrespective of sex and color. The first woman who graduated here
was Miss Zerniah Porter, who in 1838 received her diploma in the
so-called literary course. The State universities of the West that were
founded later on all followed the example set by Oberlin College and
gradually the older ones adopted the same policy, so that all over the
West and South, where the State university is a strong influence, these
institutions are open to women. Throughout these regions women’s
education is for this reason almost synonymous with co-education. In the
Eastern part of the United States, however, the private college
predominates, and there is a greater degree of separation. But even here
the restrictions are gradually being removed, and most of the men’s
colleges and universities admit women to some departments with some
restrictions, or have an affiliated woman’s college.
America has also a number of independent colleges exclusively for women.
The best known among them are Vassar College, at Poughkeepsie, New York,
organized in 1861, with 1124 students and 144 teachers in 1918;
Wellesley College in Massachusetts, organized in 1875, and with 1612
students and 138 teachers in 1918; Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania organized
in 1880, and with 489 students and 63 teachers in 1918; Smith College at
Northampton, Mass.
France began to open its universities to women in 1858; England followed
in 1864; Switzerland in 1866; Sweden in 1870; Denmark, Holland, Finland
and India in 1875; Italy and Belgium in 1876; Australia in 1878; Norway
in 1884; Iceland in 1886; Hungary in 1895; Austria in 1897; Prussia in
1899, and Germany in 1900.
To-day no one clings any longer to the old prejudices against the
abilities of women. College education among women has become so common
as to attract little or no attention. It is regarded as the essential
training for intellectual, professional and business life, and it is no
longer an effort to secure it, but rather to make it of the greatest
possible value to the students and to the community. As women do a large
proportion of the teaching in public schools as well as in colleges for
both sexes, the education of the citizens of the 20th Century depends
largely upon the opportunities available to women in the past, present
and future.—
As educators as well as founders of learned institutions large numbers
of women became most favorably known. There was for instance =Jeanne
Louise Henriette Campan=. When the tempests of the French Revolution
began to rage, she held a position at the royal court as reader to the
young princesses. Thrown on her own resources after the dethronement and
execution of the King and the Queen she established a school at
Saint-Germain. The institution prospered, and was patronized by Mme.
Beauharnais, whose influence led to the appointment of Mme. Campan as
superintendent of the Academy founded by Napoleon at Ecouen, for the
education of the daughters and sisters of members of the Legion of
Honor. While in this position Mme. Campan wrote a treatise “De
l’Education des Femmes.”
=Emmy Hart Willard= in 1823 founded Troy Female Seminary at Troy, N. Y.,
over which she presided until 1838. =Mary Mason Lyon= established in
1836 Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, of which she was president until her
death in 1849.
=Elizabeth Palmer Peabody= in Boston was largely instrumental in
introducing Froebel’s kindergarten system in the United States. She
likewise wrote a number of educational works. In England =Emily Anne
Shireff= was active as President of the Froebel Society of England.
=Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon=, who worked for the extension of
university education to women, aided in 1868 in establishing Girton
College, at Cambridge, England. =Anne Jemima Clough= founded in 1867 the
North of England Council for Promoting the Higher Education of Women,
and in 1875 the Newnham College for Women.
The name of =Sophie Smith= is remembered as the founder of Smith College
at Northampton, Mass., the first woman’s college in New England; the
name of =Annie N. Meyer= as the founder of Barnard College, the woman’s
department of Columbia University in New York.
=Marie Montessori= was the inventor of a new system of teaching.
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