Generating Gender

Presenter: Ann Paterson

Understanding of reproduction was minimal in the seventeenth century in Western Europe. It was, however, a time of intellectual exploration and excitement, and there were more than a few physicians and natural philosophers keen to uncover the mechanisms involved in the conception and development of the embryo.

It has been shown that there was a gender bias in publications on reproduction at the time, and this paper gives some of the background to the story. It also introduces my work about the way that male authors compensated for new discoveries that seemed to give more of a role to women in generation and development.