Just a passing though on how girls get interested in science... My memory is
also pretty hazy (going on 50 now) but I suspect my interest in science
was piqued by two things: an interest in the natural world (we did a lot of
camping cross country to save on my father's travel allowance from the US
Army) and reading science fiction since I was about 7. My parents brought
it home from the Post Library at Fort Benning. I had read my way through
all of Burroughs (not only Tarzan but the "Mars" stuff as well) and all the
Heinlein available and the zines every month (Ah the wonderful days of Galaxy
and Worlds of If and Amazing and Astounding and of course F&SF) and everything
my parents read as well. Jack & Jill magazine ran SF serials occasionally &
of course I went to the movies EVERY Saturday afternoon and saw all the
classics. In terms of SF, there are a much better range of female role models
than there were in the 50's, but do girls read them? Is there room for
fiction (and non-fiction) that expands the mind's possibilities in the
curriculum? Does Star Trek-the Next Generation or Star Trek-Deep Space 9 or
offer the same inspiration as the early Heinlein juveniles? I note that the
pilot on the rather bad CBS series Space Rangers is female and apparently
competent and tough, though I don't think much of the ergonomic design of
her control panel. then there's always Ripley....
Comments?
Kate McCain (who wanted desperately to go to the Space Academy and can
still whistle the entire Academy March)
mccainkw at duvm.ocs.drexel.edu
