You've probably heard of Rachel Carson and Sally Ride, and maybe even Rosalind Franklin, Lynn Margulis or Grace Hopper. Scientists all, most of them when women in their respective fields were particularly scarce. But did you know that Hedy Lamarr (yes, the actress) patented technology during World War II that is still used today? Or that Lise Meitner would have shared the Nobel for discovering fission had she not been a Jew and a woman in Hitler's Germany? Or that Maria Goeppert Mayer, who did eventually win a Nobel for her research, was never paid for her work until she neared retirement? There are fifty-two women profiled in this handy book - Headstrong, by Rachel Swaby - and all of them made huge discoveries under trying conditions. Most are not well known, even today. Of necessity, the profiles are short, but punchy, and there is a substantial list of references at the end.
Highly recommended.
I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review. The image above links to the book's Amazon page.
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