Book Manuscript: The Other Physicists

The stories of women in the history of physics are few and far between. And apart from an exceptional few like Marie Curie or Lise Meitner, women are rarely written into the larger history; very often their stories are treated as exceptions to the norm. But what happens if we move the study of women from the periphery to the center of the history of physics? Although it has some commonalities, a history of women in physics has many differences from a history of physics dominated by men. Different institutions, like women’s colleges, become much more important. And different labor practices set the tone.
In my dissertation, The Other Physicists, I unearth a longstanding and active community of women in physics by examining the intersection of gender, physics, and higher education at colleges and universities in the United States. My historical analysis focuses on women’s colleges in the period 1870-1940. At these colleges women congregated to learn, teach, and work in physics. Each chapter is organized along the lines of the life cycle of the female physicist before World War II – including chapters on their undergraduate, graduate, and occupational experiences.
In the course of my research into this project, I have compiled a list of 275+ female physicists who were active in the United States prior to WWII. I hope to make this information publicly accessible in the future. For more information or to suggest an individual for the list, you can email me at joanna.behrman [at] gmail.com.
Research Publications



In-Progress and Forthcoming
- In progress: Book manuscript tentatively entitled The Other Physicists: Building Women’s Physics Communities based on the Ph.D. dissertation The Other Physicists: Female Physicists at Women’s Colleges 1870-1940.
- Forthcoming: Sections of the history of the Johns Hopkins University Physics Department, including Chapter 1 “Building a Department,” Chapter 2 “Gaining Momentum,” and biographies of Henry Rowland and Robert W. Wood. Christine Wenc, ed.
2023
- Joanna Behrman. “Sarah Frances Whiting, Pioneering Laboratory Instruction in Astronomy.” American Journal of Physics 91, no. 6 (June 2023), 417-424. Featured cover article. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0131617 [peer-reviewed]
2022
- Joanna Behrman. “Physics … is for Girls? Physics Today 75, no. 8, (August 2022), 30-36. Featured cover article. https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.5061. [peer-reviewed]
2020
- Joanna Behrman. “The Personal is Professional: Margaret Maltby’s Life in Physics.” In Biographies in the History of Physics: Actors, Objects, and Organizations, 37-57. Christian Forstner, Dieter Hoffmann, and Mark Walker eds. Heidelberg: Springer, 2020. <https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783030485085>.
- J. F. Behrman. “Manuals, Handbooks, and Recipes,” in Between Making and Knowing: Tools in Materials Research, 73-82. Cyrus Mody and Joseph Martin, eds. Encyclopedia of the Development and History of Materials Science. World Scientific Publishing Company, 2020. <https://doi.org/10.1142/11482>.
2018
- Joanna Behrman. “Domesticating Physics.” Physics Today 71, no. 5 (May 2018), 50-56. Featured cover article. <https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.3922>. [peer-reviewed]
- Republished in Parity (Maruzen Publishing Co.) March 2019. Translated by Akimori Hosoi.パリティ 2019年3月号 <https://www.maruzen-publishing.co.jp/item/b303275.html>
- Republished in Physics Bimonthly (a publication of the Physics Society of Taiwan). March 2019. Translated by Chang Yunhui. <http://pb.ps-taiwan.org/catalog/ins.php?index_id=430&index_m1_id=5>
2017

- Joanna Behrman. “Domesticating Physics: Introductory Physics Textbooks for Women in Home Economics in the United States, 1914-1955.” History of Education 46, no. 2 (Spring 2017): 193-209. <https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2016.1273404>. [peer-reviewed]
- Republished as a chapter in Science, Technologies and Material Culture in the History of Education (Routledge, 2018). ISBN: 978-1-138-35872-0.
2014
- E.C. Behrman, R.E.F. Bonde, J.E. Steck, and J.F. Behrman, “On the Correction of Anomalous Phase Oscillation in Entanglement Witnesses Using Quantum Neural Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems. Vol. 25, No 9, September 2014. <https://doi.org/10.1109/TNNLS.2013.2281938>. [peer-reviewed]
Book Reviews
- Book Review of Dresvina, Juliana, ed., Thanks for Typing: Remembering Forgotten Women in History. H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews. 20 April 2023. https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=57986
- “A Survey of Women in Astronomy.” Book Review of Virginia Trimble and David A. Weintraub, eds. “The Sky is for Everyone: Women Astronomers in their own Words.” (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022.) Physics Today 76, no. 1 (January 2023): 52-53. https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.5160
- “Portrait of a Groundbreaking Astronomer,” Book Review of Jacqueline Mitton and Simon Mitton. “Vera Rubin: A Life.” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021. 320 pp.) Science 371, no. 6531 (19 Feb 2021): 788. DOI: 10.1126/science.abg1818 https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2021/02/17/vera-rubin-a-life/
- Book Review of Donovan Moore. “What Stars Are Made Of: The Life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. 320 Pp.) History of Education Quarterly 61, no. 1 (2021): 106–8. doi:10.1017/heq.2020.69.
Outreach Publications






2023
- Joanna Behrman. “History Comes to Physcon.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 55, no. 1 (Spring 2023), 24-26. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/v55n1_2023-f-digital-singles.pdf
- Corinne Mona and Joanna Behrman. “Featured OHI: Mario Amzel.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 55, no. 1 (Spring 2023), 14-17. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/v55n1_2023-f-digital-singles.pdf
- Joanna Behrman. “Helleman Fellow Michiel Bron Explores the History of Energy.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 55, no. 1 (Spring 2023), 9-11. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/v55n1_2023-f-digital-singles.pdf
- Joanna Behrman. “A History Mystery: Adventures Identifying People in a Photograph.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (16 February 2023). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/history-mystery-adventures-identifying
- Joanna Behrman. “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot: January Photos of the Month.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (6 January 2023). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/tea-earl-grey-hot
2022
- Corinne Mona and Joanna Behrman. “Featured Oral History: George Carruthers.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 54, no. 2 (Fall 2022), 22-24. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/v54n2_2022-singles.pdf
- Joanna Behrman. “World War I: November Photos of the Month.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (10 November 2022). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/world-war-i
- Joanna Behrman. “‘The Black Scientific Renaissance of the 1970s-90s:’ African American Scientists at Bell Laboratories.” Black History Bulletin 85, no. 2 (Fall 2022), 9-12. https://doi.org/10.1353/bhb.2022.0014
- Ashley Piccone and Joanna Behrman. “Tales of the Nobel Prize announcement.” Physics Today Online. (23 September 2022). DOI:10.1063/PT.6.4.20220923a https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.4.20220923a/full/
- Joanna Behrman. “Learning about the Early History of Astronomy through Phystory.” Astronotes Column. The Physics Teacher 60 (September 2022), 524-525. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0115743
- “Pipes, Poems, and Physics: The Life of R. W. Wood.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (27 April 2022). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/pipes-poems-and-physics
2021
- “Photos of the Month: The USNS Kane” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (10 December 2021). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/photos-month-usns-kane
- “New Web Exhibit on the Research Vessel Vema.” History of Oceanography, Official Website and Blog of the International Commission of the History of Oceanography (19 November 2021). https://oceansciencehistory.com/2021/11/19/new-web-exhibit-on-the-research-vessel-vema/
- “Inaugural Helleman Fellows Selected.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 53, no. 2 (Fall 2021), 24-25. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/history/files/newsletter-pdf/v53n2_2021-digital-singles.pdf
- “Featured Oral History Interview – Benjamin Peery, Jr.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 53, no. 2 (Fall 2021), 8-10. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/history/files/newsletter-pdf/v53n2_2021-digital-singles.pdf
- “Photos of the Month: Back to School.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (14 September 2021). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/potm-back-school
- Stephen McGuire and Joanna Behrman. “Featured Oral History.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 53, no. 1 (Spring 2021), 19-22. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/history/files/newsletter-pdf/v53n1_2021-f-digitalsingles.pdf
- Joanna Behrman. “Optimism and Other Poems: A Deep Dive into an NBLA Acquisition.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (13 April 2021). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/optimism-and-other-poems
- “Book or Movie? Reviewing Book & Movie Pairs for Women’s History Month.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (10 March 2021). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/book-or-movie
2020
- “Welcome Message from the Assistant Public Historian.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 52, no. 2 (Fall 2020), 10-11. https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/history/files/newsletter-pdf/v52n2_2020-f-digital.pdf
- “Remembering Trinity, Seventy-Five Years Later.” Ex Libris Universum, Blog of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics (10 July 2020). https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/ex-libris-universum/remembering-trinity-test-seventy-five-years.
- “Optimism and Other Physicists.” American Institute of Physics History Newsletter 52, no. 1 (Spring 2020), 8-9. <https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/history/files/newsletter-pdf/v52n1_2020-FINAL.pdf>