THIS IS NOT Daedalus at its best. The memorable issues are those with a strong central theme, or those inspired by fresh ideas.  Neither condition is met here. The topic of “women” amounts to a catchall; the subtitle “Gender, Politics, and Power” is incantatory rather than descriptive. The essays share little aside from likemindedness; hence the issue wanders somewhat aimlessly—a piece on pedagogy, another on citizenship, two on feminist science, one on the history of women historians, one on economic development, and so on. Smack in the middle is a study of Australian war memorials, which, whatever its merits as art history, has only a marginal relationship to the other articles.