Before the 17th Century scientists weren't really recognised - possibly because lab-coats had yet to catch on.

A middle-aged woman in a lab coat and surgical mask pulled a few test tubes from the freezer, waving them around a foot from my face and saying something in Ukrainian.

Each woman was asked to give a speech about her candidacy for a job to two interviewers in white laboratory coats, who listened with 'stone-faced' expressions.