Although the vast majority of society at the time considered them "women painting flowers", the pioneers of observation and reproduction of plant species carried out an essential botanical work that is beginning to be recognized today, after decades of neglect and oblivion.
This was defended in her presentation by the Doctor of Biology and writer Carolina Martínez Pulido, author of the book "Botanists. Women Sowing Science", who participated in the reflection cycle "Let's Talk About Biosphere", organized by the Biosphere Reserve area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, which this year has been entirely dedicated to photosynthesis.
The speaker reviewed the trajectories and achievements of several of the scientists who, despite the stubborn male rejection of their entry into the research and academic circles, carried out rigorous and valuable work that is now unanimously applauded.
The contributions of women such as Maria Sibylla Merian, Alice Eastwood or Emma Lucy Braun, among many others, and the studies, drawings and discoveries that promoted and enriched the foundations of professional botany, starred in a talk that attracted a large audience to the Aula Magna of the UNED and that generated a lively debate at its end.
Along with the review of the names, trajectories and scientific successes of the first botanists in history, Martínez Pulido launched a plea in favor of the rescue and visibility of their works, carried out despite the difficulties imposed by the societies of the 18th, 19th and much of the 20th centuries. According to her, "only the incorporation of the gender perspective in the investigation of the past has allowed us to recognize the merit of these women and their contribution to the contemporary scientific corpus."
The talk was introduced by the director of the UNED, Andrés Martín, who welcomed the attendees, and by the technician of the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote, Quino Miguélez, who provided the academic and professional data of the speaker.
Her intervention, which was translated into sign language and broadcast via streaming, can be viewed online through the link.
