A Lab of One's Own
Science and Suffrage in the First World War
Published on 11. January 2018
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-19-879498-1 (ISBN)
Description
Many extraordinary female scientists, doctors, and engineers tasted independence and responsibility for the first time during the First World War. How did this happen? Patricia Fara reveals how suffragists, such as Virginia Woolf's sister, Ray Strachey, had already aligned themselves with scientific and technological progress, and that during the dark years of war they mobilized women to enter conventionally male domains such as science and medicine. Fara tells the stories of women such as: mental health pioneer Isabel Emslie, chemist Martha Whiteley, a co-inventor of tear gas, and botanist Helen Gwynne Vaughan. Women were now carrying out vital research in many aspects of science, but could it last?
Though suffragist Millicent Fawcett declared triumphantly that 'the war revolutionised the industrial position of women. It found them serfs, and left them free', the outcome was very different. Although women had helped the country to victory and won the vote for those over thirty, they had lost the battle for equality. Men returning from the Front reclaimed their jobs, and conventional hierarchies were re-established even though the nation now knew that women were fully capable of performing work traditionally reserved for men.
Fara examines how the bravery of these pioneer women scientists, temporarily allowed into a closed world before the door clanged shut again, paved the way for today's women scientists. Yet, inherited prejudices continue to limit women's scientific opportunities.
Though suffragist Millicent Fawcett declared triumphantly that 'the war revolutionised the industrial position of women. It found them serfs, and left them free', the outcome was very different. Although women had helped the country to victory and won the vote for those over thirty, they had lost the battle for equality. Men returning from the Front reclaimed their jobs, and conventional hierarchies were re-established even though the nation now knew that women were fully capable of performing work traditionally reserved for men.
Fara examines how the bravery of these pioneer women scientists, temporarily allowed into a closed world before the door clanged shut again, paved the way for today's women scientists. Yet, inherited prejudices continue to limit women's scientific opportunities.
Reviews / Votes
[An] interesting study. * Lucy Lethbridge, The Financial Times * [An] important book ... a compelling tale ... [Fara's] book charts a significant chapter in lost feminist history. * Wendy Moore, The Guardian * An engrossing, exciting tale of uncelebrated scientists who innovated and experimented against a background of grand historical events. * Dava Sobel, The New York Times * As this remarkable book demonstrates, Fara is not only one of Britain's leading historians of science, but also one of her generation's most eloquent storytellers. [A] fascinating book ... Carefully researched and absorbing ... Informative and moving, A Lab of One's Own is a timely reminder in helping us eliminate the inequalities that professional women still face today. * June Purvis, The Times Higher Education Supplement * [An] enthralling book. * Uta Frith, Literary Review * Fara's nuanced narrative [is] more than the sum of its parts. * Elizabeth Bruton, Nature * Fara has composed a worthy and lasting tribute to these pioneering women. * Foreign Affairs * In short, in A Lab of One's Own Patricia Fara has done a great service to the memory of several leading female scientists in World War I...I would recommend it to scholars interested in learning more about the scientific work conducted by British women during World War I. * Katie Baca, Harvard University, Nuncius * [A] powerful book. * Caspar Henderson, Five Books, Science Books of the Year 2018 * This is an essential read for any scientist seeking to understand their potential. * Jonelle Harvey, Chemistry World * A densely written, well-documented history of the British experience that will resonate with American women as well. * Kirkus Review * A Lab of One's Own is a great title for an important book.... Patricia Fara paints all the nuances of the trajectories of women scientists, keeping in the background the specificities of a war economy, the instrumental place of science within it and the ambiguities and new challenges faced by women. * Cleo Chassonnery-Zaigouche, LSE Review of Books * A Lab of One's Own is packed with stories of women who deserve greater recognition. More than that though, it resonates with current trends in how women are treated in the workplace even a century after the partial suffrage of 1918. * Dominic Lenton, E&T Magazine * A Lab of One's Own is a fascinating introduction to the pioneering women and critical events that gave momentum to the pursuit of equality before, during and after the First World War, from a scientific perspective ... Patricia Fara delivers the story of [the women's fight for equality] in a very accessible way, and a reader need not be a budding scientist to understand and enjoy the writing, which is interspersed with mini biographies of countless women whose heroics continue to inspire ... There is humour to be found often with Fara's writing, and she is not afraid to highlight the contradictions in the scientists' views and actions, unwilling to present them as goddess-like, as historians are perhaps at times guilty of. Refreshingly I think it is therefore a great read for modern day women. * Zero Filter Books * This thought-provoking book [...] is history writing at its most compelling. * Uta Frith, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience * Fascinating and compelling ... This thought-provoking book should be of interest to the scientist and non-scientist alike. * Sophie Joyce, ACNR * An urgent and absorbing tale. Fara's impassioned yet rigorous work never falters or compromises in its search for a history that is both true and continues to matter a very great deal. * Charlotte Sleigh, Professor of Science Humanities, University of Kent * Vividly and movingly, A Lab Of One's Own, brings to life the forgotten story of the scientific, mathematical, medical and technological contributions made by British women during the First World War, with legacies and lessons that still matter today. Patricia Fara deserves a medal. * Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds * Fascinating... [Patricia Fara] has uncovered the hidden, suppressed histories of scientists and clinicians who made great contributions to war and welfare, and she has woven a broader narrative of gain and loss that still resonates today. * Jeremy Sanders, Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge * The stories in this book made me very happy that I came of age in the middle of the 20th century, when the world of science welcomed a woman's questions and valued her experiments. * Maxine F. Singer * A book full of fascinating insight and anecdote about women working in or with science around the time of the 1st World War. So many hidden stories and amazing heroines. * Dame Athene Donald *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
23 black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 223 mm
Width: 4 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
490 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-879498-1 (9780198794981)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2018
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€6.99
Available for download
E-Book
12/2017
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€6.99
Available for download
Person
Patricia Fara lectures in the history of science at Cambridge University, where she is a Fellow of Clare College. She is the President of the British Society for the History of Science (2016-18) and her prize-winning book, Science: A Four Thousand Year History (OUP, 2009), has been translated into nine languages. In addition to many academic publications, her popular works include Newton: The Making of Genius (Columbia University Press, 2002), An Entertainment for Angels (Icon Books, 2002), Sex, Botany and Empire (Columbia University Press, 2003), and Pandora's Breeches: Women, Science and Power in the Enlightenment (Pimlico, 2004). An experienced public lecturer, Patricia Fara appears regularly in TV documentaries and radio programmes such as In our Time. She also contributes articles and reviews to many journals, including History Today, BBC History, New Scientist, Nature and the Times Literary Supplement.
Content
PRESERVING THE PAST, FACING THE FUTURE; ABANDONING DOMESTICITY, WORKING FOR THE VOTE; CORRIDORS OF SCIENCE, CRUCIBLES OF POWER; SCIENTIFIC WARFARE, WARTIME WELFARE; CITIZENS OF SCIENCE IN A POST-WAR WORLD; BIBLIOGRAPHY