STATUS

June 2006

Page 1: Caroline Herschel as an Observer by Michael Hoskin

Page 1: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

Page 8: Betty Friedan by Sheila Rowbotham

Page 11: The Betty I Knew by Germaine Greer

Pae 13: Breaking for Families by Kendra Snyder

Page 16: New Childbirth Policy for Female Graduate Students by Michael Pena with Gail Mahood

Editor's Note
By Fran Bagenal

In the past couple of issues of STATUS we have been exploring family-work issues. In this
issue we report on a program that supports graduate students at Stanford University when
they have a baby and another program that supports mothers returning to research after a
career break to have children. Our historical focus is on Caroline Herschel and the contributions
of her extensive observations to astronomy made two centuries ago. In February of this year Betty
Friedan, giant of the feminist movement, died at the age of 85. We celebrate her contributions
to a movement that brought huge changes to society with an extract from her book The Feminist
Mystique and an obituary written by feminist scholar Sheila Rowbotham. We also present an
alternative view of Betty Friedan from another feminist giant, Germaine Greer. Many women
scientists keep their heads buried in physics books instead of feminist literature. We present
these articles as a reminder of the social and political battles fought over the past 40 years and in
appreciation of how their victories have allowed us to concentrate on our science.

Edited by Fran Bagenal (University of Colorado)
bagenal@colorado.edu

Associate Editors
Joannah Hinz (University of Arizona)
jhinz@as.arizona.edu
Patricia Knezek (WIYN Observatory)
knezek@noao.edu

Contributing Editor Meg Urry (Yale University)
meg.urry@yale.edu

Design by Krista Wildt (STScI)
wildt@stsci.edu

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