Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 15:06:30 EST From: Mybog@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg4000$foo@default> Subject: Re: Mary Treat et al
Hello group,
Nice to have this opportunity to pull out of the P-word controversy with some
uplifting reportage on prominent female naturalists and their contributions
to not only cps, but also many other areas of natural history. For those who
might wish to read more about this woefully underpublished phenomenon
see--Women in the Field, by Marcia M. Bonta (1991). In it she describes the
trials and tribulations of many women such as Mary Treat, Kate Brandegee,
Anna Comstock, and Rachel Carson who have made such huge contributions over
the past 200 years in North America.
Of course, there was at least one other prominent women who was not included
in Bonta's compilation: Rebecca Merritt Austin. And as some of you know she
was the first person to literally "sit-down" and study the life of the cobra
lilly (Darlingtonia californica) in Butterfly Valley in the 1870's. She also
may have communicated with Darwin, but only indirectly and very late in his
life.
Currently there are also many other good women toiling in the wetlands of the
US. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of them in-person or indirectly
through their research on cps or other associated plants.
There also may have been a follow-up to Bonta's book by her/someone else in
recent years? I can't put my finger on the title just now, but if anyone
knows of this later work please enlighten me.
Thanks,
Hawk
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