Wendy Bauer, PhD
Professor of Astronomy
Wellesley College
1 What made you become a scientist ?
2 How long have you been a scientist ?
3 How old were you when you decided to be a scientist?
These first three all blend together. I first got interested in astronomy when I was about 4 or 5 years old and had climbed in to bed with my mother in the morning. She was telling me about the old Greek and Roman myths and told me that the planets were named after them, and I started asking her questions about the planets because they were far more interesting to me than the myths. She couldn't answer all my questions so she took me to the library that very day and we checked out astronomy books and from then on I wanted to be an astronomer.
4 Why do you think there are more males in science than females?
Partly because more boys tend to tinker with mechanical things as kids than girls do (I was not a tinkerer), and because girls are encouraged less in school to pursue math and science.
-TS
Professor of Astronomy
Wellesley College
1 What made you become a scientist ?
2 How long have you been a scientist ?
3 How old were you when you decided to be a scientist?
These first three all blend together. I first got interested in astronomy when I was about 4 or 5 years old and had climbed in to bed with my mother in the morning. She was telling me about the old Greek and Roman myths and told me that the planets were named after them, and I started asking her questions about the planets because they were far more interesting to me than the myths. She couldn't answer all my questions so she took me to the library that very day and we checked out astronomy books and from then on I wanted to be an astronomer.
4 Why do you think there are more males in science than females?
Partly because more boys tend to tinker with mechanical things as kids than girls do (I was not a tinkerer), and because girls are encouraged less in school to pursue math and science.
-TS