A Fascinating History of Curious Careers: Women in Science and Engineering in the Netherlands, 1650-2005

Abstract

In her article „A fascinating history of curious careers: women in science and engineering in the Netherlands“, 1650-2005 Mineke Bosch demonstrates that there have always been women with more than a passing interest in science and technology. Seventeenth-century Maria Sibylla Merian pursued her research into caterpillar’s metamorphosis far into the hinterland of Surinam, while Maria Winkelmann explored the heavens together with her husband for meteors and stars. In the nineteenth-century, as a corollary of widespread educational reform the women’s curriculum changed, and women were more and more supposed to dislike the exact sciences. Even so, they kept being interested, though in smaller numbers. In 1976 this led the feminist question „Women in Science: Why so few?“ This question inspired numerous and still increasing activities to promote women’s participation in science and technology.