"Girl Chemist"

Walking down the hall earlier today, I noticed that one of my labmates had posted an interesting article near her door. Taken out of a Science Illustrated (no, not Sports Illustrated) issue from 1949, the article entitled "Girl Chemist" made me stop in my tracks and take a look. Of course if the photos don't make you laugh (no goggles, gloves, labcoats, eating lunch right off the bench, etc.) the text certainly will. "Chemistry, once strictly a man’s profession, has become increasingly hospitable to women" Hmmm, from the title "Girl Chemist" I wouldn't have thought that. If the point of the article was to show that women can do chemistry too, wouldn't "Female Chemist" or "Woman Chemist" have been more appropriate?

And it goes on..."At 22. Jackie Bates has made chemistry her career. Although it is a lonely, tense, exacting, sometimes frustrating profession, she enjoys it. She finds her work satisfying, her day full, her advancement altogether satisfactory. After 18 months on the job she regards herself as a veteran: 'The sulphur dioxide smell doesn’t bother me any more.'"

Taking a look at the chemistry section of Modern Mechanix, there are certainly a few other articles worth looking at. Some of them that I found particularly interesting--the very instructional "How to set up your chemistry laboratory, "Fun with explosive gases,"Thrilling stunts with a glass eating chemical,"Mercury the liquid metal," and last but not least "Chemcraft for victory". Enjoy.