via Geek Feminism, which had a link to  Richard Holmes’s The Royal Society’s lost women scientists.  Lesley Hall then commented:

“I’m somewhat annoyed at all the coverage A MAN talking about lost women scientists is getting, when we have several decades-worth of women historians of science who have been saying the exact same thing. This seems to me pretty much the standard thing of no-one listening until it’s said by a bloke (even if the women have already been saying it).”

Right on, Leslie!  The History of Science Society has an award dedicated to this subject, named after esteemed historian Margaret W. Rossiter (and on of my graduate committee members at Cornell). Previously it was just the History of Women in Science award, which Rossiter won in 1997 for her encyclopedic book, Women Scientists in America: Before Affirmative Action.

Now, I’m not saying men can’t do women’s history — but hey, how about giving credit to those who paved the way for you?