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Article

Gender and Science: Women in American Astronomy, 1859–1940

MAR 01, 1990
Women measured plates and reduced data in the great factory observatories, helping raise American astronomy to world‐class status while they themselves were relegated to second‐class status.
John Lankford
Rickey L. Slavings

Historically, the division of labor within American astronomy was gender specific. Although the field took in large numbers of women, gender dictated who collected data, who reduced it, who analyzed it and who published the results. The assignment of roles reflected the perceptions male astronomers had of females, and those perceptions in turn mirrored the values of American culture.

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More about the authors

John Lankford, University of Missouri, Columbia.

Rickey L. Slavings, Radford University, Radford, Virginia.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 43, Number 3

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