CAPACITY FOR SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS 135 



learn as perfectly, and they should be as well entered into 

 the subtleties of all the arts and sciences as men be. And 

 peradventure, there should be more of them, for I have 

 teached heretofore that by how much women have the body 

 more soft than the men have, and less able to do divers 

 things, by so much they have the understanding more 

 sharp there as they apply it." 



Christine de Pisan's statement is virtually a challenge 

 demanding the same educational opportunities for women 

 as were accorded to men. But it was a challenge that men 

 did not see fit to accept until full five centuries had 

 elapsed, and until it was no longer possible to deny giving 

 satisfaction to the long-aggrieved half of humanity. It 

 was also an appeal to experiment and an appeal, likewise, 

 to the teachings of history in lands where women have 

 enjoyed the same educational advantages as men. 



Having reviewed the many disabilities which so long 

 retarded woman's intellectual advancement, and considered 

 some of the objections which were urged against her 

 capacity for scientific pursuits, we are now prepared to 

 consider the appeal of Christine de Pisan and deal with it 

 on its merits. This we shall do by a brief survey of 

 woman's achievements in the various branches of science 

 in which she has been accorded the same intellectual op- 

 portunities that were so long the exclusive privilege of 

 her male compeer. 



