Rita Levi-Montalcini RIP
Dear friends of women in science,
Sonia Pressman Fuentes forwarded to me the New York Times obituary of Rita Levi-Montalcini. Once when I was in college at Goucher, my developmental biology professor, normally a large, calm, dignified man, was almost jumping out of his skin in excitement when I went in for my conference. Gairdner Moment organized the film series of lives in science for the American Institute for Biological Sciences, and he had just heard that a woman who was a Nobel laureate would participate. It was Rita Levi-Montalcini. All of us in his class got to share his excitement; he talked about her all the time for about three weeks. We heard how she had experimented towards her discovery of nerve growth factor on farm chickens upstairs on her family farm in Italy, hiding from the Nazis during World War II. We heard about her hours looking through the microscope, her thrills of discovery. Only years later did I ask myself if she ever regretted not having married and had children.
When I taught Biographies of Biologists first, I used In Praise of Imperfection, her autobiography. I loved it, but my students wanted to read more about women trying to balance family and career, so this last time I didn't use it. I am sorry now, because it's such an inspiring story of love of science and its reward in terms of big discoveries about how it all works. She was awarded many honors, including both the Nobel prize and the National Medal of Science of the USA.
In any case, I would encourage you to read the book. Here's a quote from it to spur you on. "It is imperfection - not perfection - that is the end result of the program written into that formidably complex engine that is the human brain," Dr. Levi-Montalcini wrote in her autobiography, "and of the influences exerted upon us by the environment and whoever takes care of us during the long years of our physical, psychological and intellectual development."
cheers,
Laura
Dear Laura,
I read her autobiography, In Praise of Imperfection, when I was in graduate school, on the recommendation of a friend, and it blew me away. I didn't worry about her family/career balance, she was just plain heroic and I loved her spunk, as well as her brain power. Great role model for me, sorry to hear she has passed away.
NRB
Hi Laura,
As always, I appreciate the bios of women in science, although I do know quite a bit about Rita Levi-Montalcini. Her obituary is an opportunity to bring her up in my classes.
cheers,
SSW
