Minibiographies of women and their accomplishments in science.Freelance journalist and Longshot magazine senior editor Swaby presents brief histories of 52 women who have been recognized for their accomplishments and contributions to a wide variety of scientific fields, including medicine, biology, genetics, physics and astronomy, among others. Although many of these women may not be familiar names outside their courses of study, the author's spadework should bring them to the forefront, allowing the general public to learn about the females who pushed beyond sexist attitudes to undertake and achieve success in a male-dominated arena. Covering a few hundred years, from the 1600s to the 1950s, Swaby only includes those women whose "life work has already been completed." Many of the women were pioneers, breaking gender barriers to attend famous schools, like France's Ecole de Medecine, in order to pursue their dreams of becoming doctors, scientists and other professionals. There were also those who fought against religious persecution to continue their experiments. Among Swaby's subjects are Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, Stephanie Kwolek, the American who invented Kevlar, and Inge Lehmann, the Dane who discovered Earth's inner core. "By treating women in science like scientists instead of anomalies or wives who moonlight in the lab," writes the author, "we can accelerate the growth of a whole new generation of chemists, archaeologists, and cardiologists while also revealing a whole hidden history of the world." These short accounts should inspire girls who want to study science to follow their dreams and would be useful to teachers who wish to include more information about successful women in their curriculums. Readers may argue over the selections, but Swaby provides succinct and informative narratives on some of the women who have made important contributions to the realm of science.

Never mind the prominent role particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti played in CERN's discovery of the Higgs boson, women just don't get the encouragement they need and deserve to pursue careers in science. This handy book, with profiles of 52 women from Nobel Prize winners to major science innovators, should help. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Freelance journalist Swaby profiles 52 significant women scientists across a range of fields: astronomy, atmospheric sciences, chemistry, genetics, geology, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and physics. Her ambition to counter the lack of awareness about these women and inspire the next generation of female scientists is admirable. Most of those chosen will not surprise scholars: for example, Ellen Swallow Richards, Rachel Carson, Maria Mitchell, Barbara McClintock. Other entries, such as the piece on Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr, may surprise some readers. During World War II, Lamarr secured a patent for a system to thwart listening in on important war communications, which led to the development of spread-spectrum or frequency-hopping communication technology. There are no contemporary scientists included, and Swaby candidly admits that the book lacks diversity since "opportunities for white women in science opened up before they did for women of color." Swaby's collection joins the ranks of other works published in the last decade intended to uncover contributions women have made in the sciences and technology, such as George D. Morgan's Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America's First Female Rocket Scientist or Blazing the Trail: Essays by Leading Women in Science. Verdict While the entries here don't represent deep exploration of these women's contributions or add significantly new analysis, Swaby's relatively informal writing style creates readable stories that will introduce these headstrong women to a wider audience. Recommended for public libraries and smaller academic libraries with gaps in the history of women in science.-Faye Chadwell, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Journalist Swaby spotlights the accomplishments of 52 female scientists throughout history with pithy biographies organized by their areas of expertise. Inspired by the tone-deaf New York Times obituary for Yvonne Brill, which honored the rocket scientist's beef stroganoff before her professional accomplishments, Swaby celebrates barrier-breaking titans such as Helen Taussig, the first female president of the American Heart Association; astronaut Sally Ride; and biochemist Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, who inspired the newspaper headline "Nobel Prize for British Wife." Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper receive praise for their contributions to computer programming, while Jeanne Villepreux-Power and Stephanie Kwolek are praised for inventing the aquarium and Kevlar, respectively. Swaby shows her subjects toiling in secret bedroom labs, damp basements, and janitor's closets as they faced gender-based discrimination: Mary Putnam Jacobi was admitted to France's École de Médecine on the condition she "maintain a buffer of empty seats around her at all times"; Rosalind Franklin had her research on DNA structure stolen by male colleagues; and Émilie du Chatelet frantically translated Newton's Principia into French before the birth of her fourth child. Jewish female scientists faced further adversity during WWII, with several forced to flee their homelands. Swaby has collected an inspirational master list of women in science with accessible explanations of their work. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.