The documentation is unnecessary. The fact that she belongs to the National Academy of Sciences seems proof enough that her work is important. But Scharff-Goldhaber persists. As one-half of a marriage that began during an era when women scientists were consistently underrecognized for their role in research, she wants to make sure that her professional achievements are acknowledged.
There's a soft but insistent determination about her as the 79-year-old Scharff-Goldhaber tells her story. It may be the same determination that was needed to push through a succession of professional barriers. As a young student in Germany in the last days of the Weimer Republic, she was one of few women attending Berlin University. It was there that she met her future husband, Maurice Goldhaber. At the time, however, they were just casual friends.
She moved to Munich to do graduate work on ferromagnetism. She was already walking on shaky ground ...
