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An alchemist with his family in their dim dwelling, working a bellows at his furnace. Engraving by J.C. Bentley after A. van Ostade, 1661.

An alchemist in his laboratory with his family: to the right they are shown calling at the poorhouse, destitute after the husband's failed experiments. Engraving after P. Bruegel, ca. 1558.

An alchemist hunched over his crucible; an assistant reads him a recipe, watched by an onlooker; the alchemist's wife weeps in the dim background, a baby clasped to her breast. Coloured lithograph by Bouvier, 1830, after J. Steen.

An alchemist's laboratory inhabited by monkeys: to the right they are shown calling at the poorhouse, destitute after their obsessive, fruitless experiments. Etching by P. van der Borcht, ca. 1580.

An alchemist hunched over his crucible; an assistant reads him a recipe, watched by an onlooker; the alchemist's wife weeps in the dim background, a baby clasped to her breast. Engraving by J. Boydell, c. 1760, after J. Steen.

A woman breast feeding her baby in the family's home and workshop; perhaps a comparison to the Holy Family. Engraving by J. Le Bas and P. Martini, 1772, after Rembrandt van Rijn, 1640.

A group of three 'puffers' (uninitiated alchemists) reading books, and a credulous peasant trying his luck at alchemy, his weeping wife and miserable child trying to detain him from alchemical pursuit. Engraving by F. Godefroy after J. Steen.

The fall; expelled from Eden, Adam and Eve raise a family and set to work. Engraving by Scotin, c. 1765.

Dual-career families re-examined : new integrations of work & family / Rhona & Robert N. Rapoport.

Opting out? : why women really quit careers and head home / Pamela Stone.

The family track : keeping your faculties while you mentor, nurture, teach, and serve / edited by Constance Coiner and Diana Hume George.

The XX factor : how the rise of working women has created a far less equal world / Alison Wolf.

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Dual-career families re-examined : new integrations of work & family / Rhona & Robert N. Rapoport.

An alchemist in his laboratory with his family: to the right they are shown calling at the poorhouse, destitute after the husband's failed experiments. Engraving after P. Bruegel, ca. 1558.

Opting out? : why women really quit careers and head home / Pamela Stone.

The family track : keeping your faculties while you mentor, nurture, teach, and serve / edited by Constance Coiner and Diana Hume George.

The XX factor : how the rise of working women has created a far less equal world / Alison Wolf.