Ruth Schwartz Cowan (born 1941) is an American historian of science, technology and medicine noted for her research on the history of human and medical genetics, as well as on the history of household technologies. She is also the author of a widely used textbook on the social history of American technology.

Biography

Cowan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Betty (a home-maker and antique-dealer) and Louis E. Schwartz (an attorney and office manager). She attended the excellent Brooklyn public schools, graduating (in 1957) from Midwood High School. Cowan has a B.A. in zoology from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, an M.A. in history from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, and a Ph.D. in the history of science from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. Her doctoral dissertation, "Sir Francis Galton and the Study of Heredity in the 19th Century," was supervised by William Coleman. Cowan was a professor of history at

SUNY Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

from 1967 to 2002. She also served as Director of Women's Studies from 1985 to 1990 and Chair of the Honors College from 1997 to 2002. Cowan is a Professor Emerita at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

.Ruth Schwartz Cowan
page at University of Pennsylvania's Department of History and Sociology of Science Cowan's book ''More Work for Mother'' found that since 1700, "technological change shifted the burden of domestic labor from adult men and children to mothers and wives."

Honors and awards

Cowan's ''More Work for Mother'' received the Dexter Prize from the

Society for the History of Technology The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) is the primary professional society for historians of technology. SHOT was founded in 1958 in the United States, and it has since become an international society with members "from some thirty-five ...

in 1984.Joy Parr. 2005. Industrializing the Household: Ruth Schwartz Cowan's ''More Work for Mother''. Book review. ''

Technology and Culture ''Technology and Culture'' is a quarterly academic journal founded in 1959. It is an official publication of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), whose members routinely refer to it as "T&C." Besides scholarly articles and critical e ...

'' 46:3, pp. 604-612. In 1997 the Society for the History of Technology also awarded her the

Leonardo da Vinci Medal The Leonardo da Vinci Medal is the highest award of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), and was first given in 1962. In general this award is granted annually to scholars who have contributed outstandingly to the history of technology ...

. Cowan received the

John Desmond Bernal Prize The John Desmond Bernal Prize is an award given annually by the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) to scholars judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).About the ...

in 2007 for distinguished scholarly contributions to the field of

Science and Technology Studies Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...

(STS) for her textbook ''A Social History of American Technology''. Cowan was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2014.

Selected publications

* ''More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave''. Basic Books. 1983. * ''A Social History of American Technology'', Oxford University Press, 1997, *

References

External links

Ruth Schwartz Cowan-University of Pennsylvania page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Ruth Schwartz 1941 births Living people Science and technology studies scholars Home economists Stony Brook University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Johns Hopkins University alumni Barnard College alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients Midwood High School alumni