Girl Scientists Aren't Mannish At All

Meet Mary Summerfield, Ph.D. In 1956, she was one of what American Girl magazine called "thousands of girls now serving as professional scientists." Dr. Summerfield thought more young women (er, girls) would consider science as a career but were afraid it would render them unfeminine spinsters. That's why the caption on her picture stressed she was a "research physicist--and homemaker" who thought "Cosmic rays and cake baking are both lots of fun."

Here's how some other women's mags from the 1950s proved that careers in science could be downright girly.

(Side note: io9.com is suddenly my way favoritest site ever. This totally has nothing to do with why.)