8. History of Science

Abstract

This chapter surveys disciplinary questions and methodological concerns in relation to the study of women in/and science in Islamic societies and also in relation to Muslim women in/and science in the West. It examines the positionality of the in relation to scientific and technological knowledge as an organizing principle. The chapter discusses the study of women as producers, consumers and objects of this knowledge respectively. The study of women in the atypical sites of scientific knowledge production reveals different forms of gender identification and types of gender discrimination, in ways that are dramatically different from the tropes of reduced mathematical abilities prevalent in Euro-American discourses. The chapter also focuses on the absent woman in science; an attempt has been made to discuss how we should analyze the limited participation of women in science and technology careers. Keywords: Euro-American discourses; gender discrimination; Muslim women scientists; scientific knowledge production; technological knowledge production