It was awesome to meet Julie Des Jardins (Jory’s sister and Joy’s daughter) last year at BlogHer 09. I’d heard an awful lot about her and seen a lot of photos of her and her children. It was fun to take her photo with Mrs Potato Head. And it was interesting to hear her talk about her book, The Madame Curie Complex.
I’m not a science nerd but is that because when I was a kid, I was discouraged from pursuing math and science interests? Possible but as with any nature over nurture question, impossible to know for sure. I didn’t know exactly what Julie was going to write or who she’d include in her pages but any book that talks about invisible women is my kind of book.
When my signed review copy arrived (thanks Julie!) I was thrilled by the names of the women I saw inside. I have always been interested in Marie Curie, haven’t we all? I’m a huge Roslind Franklin fan, (Watson, Crick and Wilkins… ugh, don’t even get me started… I think I almost drove off of the road the day I discovered The Rosalind Franklin College right next to the Great Lakes Naval Station.) And, I remember wanting to do a report about Lillian Gilbreth way back when and not being able to find enough information, all I could find was stuff about Frank.
I was really looking forward to reading it but work and kids and life in general kept me from diving in. (Imagine Lillian Gilbreth or Marie Curie making those kinds of excuses…hah.) I decided the Readathon would be the perfect time to sit down with it but I planned poorly and didn’t start it until very late in the Readathon day. I struggled with the intro, though it started beautifully, and ended up putting it down in favor of Nancy Drew – hoping to revitalize a bit. It worked because when I picked it back up, I was hooked – exhausted but hooked.
We’ve all heard the reasons why women didn’t enter (or achieve) in math and science, Julie’s book digs in differently. As she placed these women into historical context, right next to their male counterparts, I found myself thinking about the stories I already knew – in a different way.
The pieces about Gilbreth, the Manhattan project, and the “computers” in Astronomy were fascinating – I suspect I’ll go back and re-read those sections again. I’ve also never been very interested in the Trimates – the primate studies of Fossey, Galdikas and Goodall- but after reading about them in The Madame Curie Complex, I’ve begun to regret that. I might just end up with a book or two about Primatology – particularly Galdikas and Fossey. Thanks Julie!
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