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One scarcely knows whether to laugh or cry. The spectacle presented, in Cynthia Russett's splendid book, of nineteenth-century white male scientists and thinkers earnestly trying to prove women inferior to men--thereby providing, along with "savages" and "idiots," an evolutionary buffer between men and animals--is by turns appalling, amusing, and saddening. Surveying the work of real scientists as well as the products of more dubious minds, Russett has produced a learned yet immensely enjoyable chapter in the annals of human folly. At the turn of the century science was successfully challenging the social authority of religion; scientists wielded a power no other group commanded. Unfortunately, as Russett demonstrates, in Victorian sexual science, empiricism tangled with prior belief, and scientists' delineation of the mental and physical differences between men and women was directed to show how and why women were inferior to men. These men were not necessarily misogynists. This was an unsettling time, when the social order was threatened by wars, fierce economic competition, racial and industrial conflict, and the failure of society to ameliorate poverty, vice, crime, illnesses. Just when men needed the psychic lift an adoring dependent woman could give, she was demanding the vote, higher education, and the opportunity to become a wage earner! No other work has treated this provocative topic so completely, nor have the various scientific theories used to marshal evidence of women's inferiority been so thoroughly delineated and debunked. Erudite enough for scholars in the history of science, intellectual history, and the history of women, this book with its stylish presentation will also attract a large nonspecialist audience.

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"It all began one morning last July when we noticed a young man of twenty-six crying in his bed in Dr. Pitre's ward. He had just come from a long journey on foot and was exhausted, but that was not the cause of his tears. He wept because he could not prevent himself from departing on a trip when the need took him; he deserted family, work, and daily life to walk as fast as he could, straight ahead, sometimes doing 70 kilometers a day on foot, until in the end he would be arrested for vagrancy and thrown in prison." --Dr. Philippe Tissie, July 1886 Thus begins the recorded case history of Albert Dadas, a native of France's Bordeaux region and the first diagnosed mad traveler, or fuguer. An occasional employee of a local gas company, Dadas suffered from a strange compulsion that led him to travel obsessively, often without identification, not knowing who he was or why he traveled. He became notorious for his extraordinary expeditions to such far-reaching spots as Algeria, Moscow, and Constantinople. Medical reports of Dadas set off at the time of a small epidemic of compulsive mad voyagers, the epicenter of which was Bordeaux, but which soon spread throughout France to Italy, Germany, and Russia. Today we are similarly besieged by mental illnesses of the moment, such as chronic fatigue syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The debate rages about which of these conditions are affectations or cultural artifacts and which are "real." In Mad Travelers, Ian Hacking uses the Dadas case to weigh the legitimacy of cultural influences versus physical symptoms in the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. He argues that psychological symptoms find stable homes at a given place and time, in "ecological niches" where transient illnesses flourish. Using the records of Dadas's physician, Philippe Tissie, Hacking attempts to make sense of this strange epidemic. While telling his fascinating tale, he raises probing questions about the nature of mental disorders, the cultural repercussions of their diagnosis, and the relevance of this century-old case study for today's overanalyzed society.

The interdisciplinary mix of sharp commentary and scholarship has the potential to invigorate and reawaken debate on why women aren t advancing faster in academia and the role of theoretical, social, and institutional bias in perpetuating this inequity. . . Undergraduate and graduate students of educational and workplace inequality, women s studies, and neoclassical theory will benefit from engaging in the dialogues raised in this book. Lois Joy, Feminist Economics . . . this book offers a contribution to debates and is a timely reminder that the woman question remains a compelling issue. The critical insights offered by scholars from across the disciplines of history, philosophy, psychology, sociology and economics is a unique aspect of this text. This is a thoughtful and scholarly contribution to the knowledge base. Tanya Fitzgerald, Journal of Educational Administration and History Detractors will find all the supporting data that they might fear to see, as the authors have done their homework/housework and it is spotless. The opening statement of the acknowledgements can stand for the remainder of us that in encouraging our academic interests, as a stimulus to creative energy, in making us laugh and in reminding us to hold on to that which we value most for women (and men) in higher education, there cannot be much improvement on this book. Julia Swindells, Times Higher Education . . . a particularly readable and interesting set of complementary essays. Education Economics These outstanding essays by eminent scholars provide sophisticated and highly readable analyses of the causes of women s exclusion from full participation in knowledge production today. From multiple disciplinary perspectives, the authors examine the roles of biology, institutional impediments, discrimination, and women s choices. A must read for all concerned with the role of women in contemporary higher education. Myra H. Strober, Stanford University, US These fascinating essays by scholars from a wide range of disciplines examine women s struggle since the nineteenth century for inclusion and voice in American higher education and the long, often grimly comic history of the arguments that men with authority to speak have used (and continue to use) to rationalize limiting women s role. Everyone interested in the history of women in American universities should read this book. Robert W. Dimand, Brock University, Canada These essays offer fresh insights on the question of the paucity of women in higher education and together form a thoughtful and contemporary response to Lawrence Summers and the Woman Question in the twenty-first century. This uniquely interdisciplinary study offers a provocative, contemporary look at the Woman Question in relation to higher education at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Leading feminist scholars from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplines including history, philosophy, education, psychology, sociology, and economics evaluate the role of biology, discrimination, and choice in rationalizing women s exclusion from fully participating in the process of knowledge production, as well as examining institutional impediments. Contextualizing arguments against women s inclusion and including contemporary perspectives on gender, this book offers a rich, multi-layered examination and critical insights into understanding the near universal difficulties that women encounter as they seek to participate fully in the process of knowledge production. This book addresses one of the most compelling topics of our time and speaks to our need to understand the long struggle of women to gain an authoritative voice in higher education and the factors that underlie that struggle. Scholars and researchers of women s studies, higher education, and a range of humanities and social sciences will find this book a welcome addition to the literature.