'This is a fascinating book on a completely original topic, the ways in which scientific and technological things, objects, processes, machines, techniques, come to acquire a gender in the context of their patriarchal (and feminist) uses. Things are made and used by us: how they are made and the ways in which they are used - by whom, with what effects – is a central but unexplored question in Science and Technology Studies. This collection brings new political and social perspectives and new questions to our understanding of what technological ‘things’ may become.'
- Elizabeth Grosz, Professor of Women's Studies and Literature, Duke University, USA
'Certain things, such as ships, have long been gendered but these were thought of as exceptions to the general rule of neutrality: a thing is an "it," not a "she" or a "he." This eye-opening book shows how widespread the gendering of things actually is — and not just the things of everyday life but the things of science. From the sealing wax and string of the laboratory to genealogical databases, The Gender of Things reveals the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the things of science and technology can be made masculine or feminine.'
- Lorraine Daston, Director emerita, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany
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Biographical note
Maria Rentetzi is Professor of Science, Technology, and Gender Studies at FAU Erlangen- Nurnberg, and an affiliate of the Max Planck Institute for History of Science, Berlin, Germany.