Abstract
Within this book I will explore the development of an intellectually gifted young woman during a time when women were discouraged from studying fields that were basically reserved for men. In Irresistible Forces: Australian Women in Science (2004), Claire Hooker has written
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Notes
- 1.
There is a temptation to evaluate these issues with the viewpoint of the more egalitarian society of the early twenty-first century; as a number of colleagues have pointed out to Goss, the draconian treatment of Payne-Scott in the mid-twentieth century was consistent with practices in many walks of life. The characteristic that distinguished Payne Scott was her resistance to these inequalities.
- 2.
The transition from the CSIR to the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) occurred in the period March to May 1949 with the passing of the Science and Industry Research Act 1949 by the Australian Parliament. The change from “Council” to “Commonwealth” was chosen to emphasise the national character of the new organisation and the word “Organisation” was used to highlight the changed character of the administration by the new CSIRO Executive of five members, including three scientists (Schedvin 1987).
- 3.
Melrose and Minnett (1998) have quoted one colleague at RPL who suggested that there was “a triangle of antagonism between John Bolton, Ruby Payne-Scott and Jack Piddington” [another prominent scientist at RPL] in the late 1940s. Minnett, himself, acknowledged these antipathies and described them as “creative tensions between very different personalities”. RPL was blessed with some strong personalities!
- 4.
- 5.
Professor Brian Schmidt of the Mt. Stromlo Observatory in Canberra has pointed out to Goss that Payne-Scott was competing for the 100th birthday “Google Doodle” with the Australian Nobel Laureate for Literature (1973) Patrick White, also born on 28 May 1912.
References
Frater, R.H., Ekers, R.D.: John Paul Wild 1923–2008. Historical Records of Australian Science. (2012, in press)
Freeman, J.: A Passion for Physics: The Story of a Woman Physicist. The Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol (1991)
Hooker, C.: Irresistible Forces: Australian Women in Science. University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne (2004)
Melrose, D.B., Minnett, H.C.: Jack Hobart Piddington 1910–1997. Hist. Records Aust. Sci. 12, 229 (1998)
Schedvin, C.B.: Shaping Science and Industry: A History of Australia’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 1926–1949. Allen and Unwin, Sydney (1987)
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Goss, W.M. (2013). Introduction. In: Making Waves. Astronomers' Universe. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35752-7_1
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