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Gender, Politics, and Radioactivity Research in Vienna, 1910-1938

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Gender, Politics, and Radioactivity Research in Vienna, 1910-1938 GENDER, POLITICS, AND RADIOACTIVITY RESEARCH IN VIENNA, 1910-1938 by Maria Rentetzi Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Science and Technology Studies Richard M. Burian, committee chair Aristides Baltas Gary L. Downey Peter L. Galison Bernice L. Hausman Joseph C. Pitt March 25, 2003 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: gender and science, history of radioactivity, 20th century physics, architecture of the physics laboratory, women’s lived experiences in science, Institute for Radium Research in Vienna Copyright 2003, Maria Rentetzi GENDER, POLITICS, AND RADIOACTIVITY RESEARCH IN VIENNA, 1910-1938 Maria Rentetzi ABSTRACT What could it mean to be a physicist specialized in radioactivity in the early 20th century Vienna? More specifically, what could it mean to be a woman experimenter in radioactivity during that time? This dissertation focuses on the lived experiences of the women experimenters of the Institut für Radiumforschung in Vienna between 1910 and 1938. As one of three leading European Institutes specializing in radioactivity, the Institute had a very strong staff. At a time when there were few women in physics, one third of the Institute’s researchers were women. Furthermore, they were not just technicians but were independent researchers who published at about the same rate as their male colleagues. This study accounts for the exceptional constellation of factors that contributed to the unique position of women in Vienna as active experimenters. Three main threads structure this study. One is the role of the civic culture of Vienna and the spatial arrangements specific to the Mediziner-Viertel in establishing the context of the intellectual work of the physicists. A second concerns the ways the Institute’s architecture helped to define the scientific activity in its laboratories and to establish the gendered identities of the physicists it housed. The third examines how the social conditions of the Institute influenced the deployment of instrumentation and experimental procedures especially during the Cambridge-Vienna controversy of the 1920s. These threads are unified by their relation to the changing political context during the three contrasting periods in which the story unfolds: a) from the end of the 19th century to the end of the First World War, when new movements, including feminism, Social Democracy, and Christian Socialism, shaped the Viennese political scene, b) the period of Red Vienna, 1919 to 1934, when Social Democrats had control of the City of Vienna, and c) the period from 1934 to the Anschluss in 1938, during which fascists and Nazis seized power in Austria. As I show, the careers of the Institute’s women were shaped in good part by the shifting meanings, and the politics, that attached to being a “woman experimenter” in Vienna from 1910 to the beginning of the Second World War. To my parents, Katina and Theodoros Rentetzis iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I begun this study as an attempt to answer a puzzling question: why were there so many women working in radioactivity research in Vienna from 1910 to 1938? Based on canonical stories about women’s secondary roles in science, and particularly in physics, the number of women at the Institute for Radium Research in Vienna during the first part of the 20th century seemed interestingly exceptional. Moreover, the fact that those women worked as experimenters and not as laboratory support staff or technicians attracted my attention. For being able to transform the initial question into what came to be the main theme of this work, I owe my acknowledgments first and foremost to my advisor Richard Burian. Dick’s guidance has been essential in more than one sense. I have constantly taken great advantage of his time and willingness to read anything I might write. While English is not my native language, Dick had to deal not only with the content of my work but with its grammar as well. At the cost of his own time and research I have learned how to formulate my ideas, pay attention to arguments, and to try to put together a number of different perspectives in a coherent way. Tough enough to push me hard and at the same time sensitive enough to know how far I can go, Dick followed each of my steps very closely and gave me the freedom to pursue my interests. By doing so he was the first to face my frustrations, my impatience, my anxieties but, I hope, also my excitement. Bernice Hausman introduced me to gender theory and pointed out to me the theoretical potential of my work much clearer than I was able to do it. Gary Downey graced me with more than suggesting sources and ways to conceptualize my topic. He stood by me in extremely difficult personal times, more than I have ever expected. To Joe Pitt I owe not only an acknowledgment for playing an essential role in the whole dissertation process, but an apology as well. I lost some important time and the chance to learn from him. I admit, Joe, that I am stubborn. To Peter Galison I am grateful for inspiring and encouraging this study and for his insightful and decisive suggestions in all the crucial turning points of the dissertation process. There is one debt that never seems to get repaid, but constantly increases. To Aristides Baltas I owe more than acknowledging the key role he played in my studies. I v met Aristides at the graduate program in History and Philosophy of Science, at the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. He had and still has a unique ability to listen to and a remarkable generosity in helping students find their way, not only through scholarly ideas and dissertation projects but also through life. One of the first to establish the HPS program in Greece, Aristides nurtured almost all of us Greeks who pursued studies in the field. He opened up the program to international scholars and worked on several projects, embracing his students and welcoming others who were interested in HPS studies. I dared to imagine that I could leave Greece and study in the United States because I had Aristides’ encouragement and support. I became self- confident through our long discussions that took up more than my fair share of his time. I am sure, Aristidi that the exchange has not been mutual and I am grateful for your patience. To George Fourtounis I owe a decision I took years ago. I remember our discussion in a coffee shop in Plaka, Athens, on the trajectory of my life, torn as I was, between pursuing further studies and getting a stable job. He turned to me with an astonishing honesty and said, “To pursue what you want to do has sometimes an enormous cost but also a unique benefit; the satisfaction that you did it.” A few weeks ago, during another discussion with him in another coffee shop, this time in New York, I gratefully realized that he had been right. To Lara Scourla my dept has been large and still unpaid. In all these years of overwhelming decisions and of coming and going with a suitcase in hand, Lara has always been there for me. She truly knows how to accept someone the way she is, which let me become who I am. Lara, I wish I would be able to do the same. Throughout my studies in the United States I had the unconditional support of Peter Machamer. Peter, a philosopher of science at the HPS department of the University of Pittsburgh, became a regular and welcome visitor in Athens thanks to Aristides’ efforts to bring our program in the forefront of scholarly discussions in the field. I was fortunate to meet Peter during the time I was considering to apply to North American Universities. Besides providing information on possible programs in the United States to apply to and shaping application proposals, Peter functioned as the link between two of my self images: who I already was and who I was becoming. Knowing Greeks and Greece well vi and at the same time an American himself, Peter had predicted my cultural shock and was there to help every single minute I asked for. Soon Barbara Machamer joined what I considered my family in this country and she generously made me feel that I joined hers. Thanks to them and Aristides, I also taxed the patience and generosity of George Gale, Ted McGuire, and Jim Bogen as well. My work on the history of the Institute for Radium Research and the lived experiences of the women that it hosted has not been just part of my life. Rather, it has been my life for the last six years. A number of Greek friends have patiently listened to my stories and encouraged my adventures. Besides Giorgos and Lara I would like to warmly thank Spiros Petrounakos, Dimitris Papagianakos, Giorgos Malamis, Kostas Pagondiotis, Gianna Katsiaboura, Maria Rafailidou, Evi Stathopoulou, Panos Theodorou, Vasilis Raisis, Fotini Vasiliou, Margio Chaidopoulou, Petros Damianos, Maria Pournari, Aris Aragiorgis, and Georgia Arnelou. In the United States there have been a few people whose support has been indispensable. My dear friend Brad Kelley, with whom I disagree on almost everything, made me part of his family and his life. His generosity went so far that he read every single sentence of this dissertation, trying to fix my rough English. Ty Brady has been the one who, during the last years, makes sure that occasionally I get out of my “cave,” patiently listens to my complains, and cares for me. Expert in designing maps, Ty generously spent his free time and drew the map of the Mediziner-Viertel that I include here.
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