A Woman of Science on Women in Science

The previous blog post talked about the Scientists for Life class visiting the "Milestones of Science" exhibit at the Buffalo Public Library, and a group of Science-loving girls from Buffalo Seminary visited the exhibit once again on September 23rd. This time, however, the focus was not on the exhibit, but on author and science enthusiast Dava Sobel. She has written several historical scientific novels including Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, The Planets, and A More Perfect Heaven. Ms. Sobel was a featured speaker of the Buffalo Humanities Festival. She spoke at the Albright Knox following her talk at the Library, which was an exceptional experience for the young people gathered to hear her. But Dava Sobel being the headlining speaker of the Buffalo Humanities Festival meant much more than just an intriguing science writer to the girls of Buffalo Seminary. It meant the girls had an opportunity to hear a woman of science share her thoughts on women in science, which is a hot topic for the Scientists for Life class and for any science student passionate about the opportunities and history afforded to women in science.

The girls of Buffalo Seminary filed into the exhibit room and to the half-circle arranged chairs, eager to hear Ms. Sobel speak about women in science, but not quite sure what to expect considering the majority had not read many or any of her works. Ms. Sobel was introduced, and she immediately set up an open atmosphere of discussion rather than lecturing her listeners. The audience soon found that although Dava Sobel was not technically a scientist herself, she is a lifelong lover of science and her family is full of scientists. Naturally, this background contributed to her passion for writing about science. And novels were not her only published scientific works.

One of the Buffalo Seminary students, upon discovering that Ms. Sobel has written science articles for the New York Times, specifically the "Women's Section", asked Ms. Sobel about her personal experiences as a woman involved in the scientific community and her thoughts on women in science. The response was exactly what scientists of Buffalo Seminary want to hear. The struggles women face in pursuing science do not stop them from achieving scientific greatness. Ms. Sobel shared that she had faced adversity throughout her time studying various sciences in college and writing articles about science-related topics, but she never let it bother her to much. She also shared that she believes women being involved in science is wonderful and very important. Although she was writing for the New York Times in the 1970s and many more opportunities were available to women during this time than were available as little as ten years earlier, Ms. Sobel found that too many men that she encountered did not approve of or actively spoke against women going into scientific fields of study and profession. Unfortunately, not much has changed in that respect in the past fifty years. But Ms. Sobel expressed her belief that the availability of scientific programs and opportunities for girls today will inspire and nurture many more female scientists in years to come.

In view of the fact that Dava Sobel is a historian as well as a woman of science, she has studied countless situations where women who worked tirelessly and passionately to make scientific breakthroughs and discoveries were often ignored or had credit of their work stolen from them. She mentioned 6 female computers who developed a revolutionary system of computation and had their work taken and not accredited to them, as well as Marie Curie, who was fortunate enough to have a husband who supported her work and became very famous. The Scientists for Life class has learned about all of these women, and found it interesting that so few women are recognizable for scientific feats even today. It would seem as though women of science cannot excel in their field without the assistance or support of a man, even though it is evident upon looking closer that many scientific fields would not even exist without the assistance, support, brilliance, and innovation of a woman. I am sure Dava Sobel would agree.