简介

My research and teaching focus on analyzing the ways in which science intersects with culture, recognizing that much social change in recent centuries has been influenced by science and technology and that the issues that arise in science are often connected to contemporary social and economic forces. I previously taught at Simmons College and Syracuse University, and held visiting appointments at Cornell, the University of Munich, Melbourne University, and the University of Auckland. Interests in gender issues, I directed Women’s Studies at Syracuse and chaired the Feminist Studies Program at Minnesota. Among other offices, I have been President of the History of Science Society and served on the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. My research concentrates on the history of science in American culture. I have written on the early development of scientific organizations, on the ways in which self-described amateurs participate in science, on the role of women in science, on the role of museums in the public understanding of science, on the gendered ways science often operates, and on the integration of science into school curricula. My most recent book reveals the way in which school children learned hands-on science in the early twentieth century. During the academic year 2014-15, I will be on sabbatical leave, spending some time in the fall at the Smithsonian Institution and, in the spring, at the Max Planck Institution for the History of Science in Berlin.