Has Feminism Changed Science?

Titles that pose rhetorical questions are generally attached to books that answer them affirmatively; Has Feminism Changed Science? is no exception. In the professional culture of science, Londa Schiebinger argues, the feminist perspective has profoundly affected both the types of questions being asked and the substance of new theories proposed as answers. Schiebinger, who has explored this territory in previous books (including Nature's Body), focuses on deconstructing the types of science women have been drawn to for careers and the obstacles they've faced inside and outside the laboratory. Balancing the roles of wife, mother, or domestic partner with the demands of a rigorous professional discipline can be career threatening; finding acceptance within the traditionally male culture of science and changing it to reflect new paradigms challenges even the most gifted researchers and teachers. Schiebinger breathes new life into a much-discussed subject, buttressing her arguments with a wealth of statistical analysis that makes her conclusions difficult to refute. Ultimately, she writes, the role of gender in scientific thinking has been forever altered by feminism, just as the role of women in the sciences has. From fetal development and drug testing to the way that archeologists look at primitive tools, the elimination of masculine bias has profoundly reshaped just how science views the world. --Patrizia DiLucchio