On the origin of women geologists by means of social selection: German andBritish comparison

The history of geosciences has largely been interpreted as a history of mal e scientists; but the inclusion of their social frame into historical resea rch makes clear how women in various roles have participated in and shaped the history of geology. The paper illustrates this social history of women geologists with familiar graphical methods of geoscientists. It touches briefly on a long and littl e known prehistory, when geological knowledge was mingled with mythical and religious ideas or with craft-traditions of nu. m. ng and alchemy. During the 18th century, women appeared as owners of natural history collections, some of which have become the nuclei of today's museum collections. The beginning of geological research in a modern sense and thus the beginni ng of geological history occurred around 1800. In Germany, the early profes sionalisation of geology effectively precluded the collaboration of women, whereas a non-professional culture of natural sciences in Britain stimulate d a local "Cambrian Explosion": Women appeared in great numbers as assistan ts to male relatives, as field geologists, collectors, taxonomists, and dra ughtswomen. The professionalisation in Britain during the second half of th e 19th century led to the "extinction" of these early female scholars, With the opening of universities for female students the population of women ge ologists slowly increased again. The number of these professional female ge oscientists was, and is, strongly modulated by local cultures of science an d the socio-political environment.