erin_oriordan_is_reading_again's review against another edition
5.0
I borrowed this book from my local library...twice. Ages ago I checked out the ebook version and read part of the way through, to somewhere around Annie Jump Cannon. I borrowed it again today in audiobook form and couldn't stop listening to the life stories of these fascinating scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.
I love all 52, but Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr may be my favorites. Without them, we might not have computers or wifi.
If you have a child interested in STEM, get this book and read them one scientist biography a week for one year.
I love all 52, but Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr may be my favorites. Without them, we might not have computers or wifi.
If you have a child interested in STEM, get this book and read them one scientist biography a week for one year.
myzanm's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and eye opening.
I'd heard of a few of these remarkable ladies before, but never realized they were women. Most of them were completely unknown to me. That is outrageous. I teach science to children up to 12 years of age. Those are the formative years when it comes to awaken an interest in science. I should have know about more of these scientists, and I should have known they were female.
Now I have to redeem myself by teaching and inspire my students through these brilliant minds.
The book itself was well written in the kind of language that is easy accessible to common people. You don't have to know a lot about science to understand and enjoy reading about these ground breaking achievements. In fact the text is comprehensible enough that I could see the book useful in early science education. I would if my students were sufficiently proficient in English.
Not only does the book give us an insight of the Sisyphean labor these women suffered to be allowed to work in their chosen field, but it is also highlights how much (or little) the world has changed for women in science the past century.
I'd heard of a few of these remarkable ladies before, but never realized they were women. Most of them were completely unknown to me. That is outrageous. I teach science to children up to 12 years of age. Those are the formative years when it comes to awaken an interest in science. I should have know about more of these scientists, and I should have known they were female.
Now I have to redeem myself by teaching and inspire my students through these brilliant minds.
The book itself was well written in the kind of language that is easy accessible to common people. You don't have to know a lot about science to understand and enjoy reading about these ground breaking achievements. In fact the text is comprehensible enough that I could see the book useful in early science education. I would if my students were sufficiently proficient in English.
Not only does the book give us an insight of the Sisyphean labor these women suffered to be allowed to work in their chosen field, but it is also highlights how much (or little) the world has changed for women in science the past century.
iamericat22's review against another edition
4.0
The pivotal line of this book is delivered by Hertha Ayrton, who was a scientist, an author, a close friend of Marie Curie, and the inventor of a fan that dispersed noxious gas away from soldiers. She is quoted as saying: "Personally I do not agree with sex being brought into science at all. The idea of 'women and science' is entirely irrelevant. Either a woman is a good scientist or she is not; in any case she should be given opportunities, and her work should be studied from the scientific, not the sex, point of view."
This is the standard of measure of all the women in the book Headstrong by Rachel Swaby. In this work, Swaby covers the lives and contributions of 52 women in varying branches of science including invention, physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and more. Why 52? Swaby reasons that there are 52 weeks in a year, and so in reading this book you can learn about a different female scientist each week.
Each selection is just a snapshot of their life and their lasting impact to human progress and innovation. Some of these portraits are only two pages long; the longest is only about 5 pages. Although each segment is brief, the value of having so many different contributions by women compiled together effectively drives home the point of the impact women have made to the umbrella of science area which they fall under and upon the larger world.
The work is fact-filled, interesting, full of trivia, and delivers strong evidence of the value of female scientists without harping on or getting lost in hot-button issues like male dominance in science and exclusion of women in the field. The book deals in facts, and these include the struggles women had to go to in obtaining education and standing in their passions within fields where they were the glaring minority.
My favorite profiles included those of Gerty Radnitz Cori, a Biochemistry scientist responsible for our understanding of glycogen; Virginia Apgar, who developed a test to establish newborn health standards; Marry Anning, a pioneer in paleontology and fossil discovery; Tilly Edinger, a Jewish woman who encountered Nazi targeting in establishing paleoneurology; Rachel Carson, the voice behind environmental awareness and author of "Silent Spring"; Rosalind Franklin, whom developed a structure of DNA that was "borrowed" by Watson and Crick; Hedy Lamarr, an well-known actress who also worked in tandem to invent a system for coded radio waves to aid torpedo navigation during war-time; and household name Florence Nightingale, responsible among many other contributions for her statistics work and suggestions for improved hospital conditions like better lighting and quiet time for recuperation that are still being pursued today.
Headstrong was enlightening and kept my interest. I see this being a valuable tool for students in researching these scientists, and grasping the timeline of scientific discovery more fully through human interest stories such as these. For me, this would be a recommended reading for college freshman or AP high-schoolers. The work is well-researched and written, and with such a variety of topics of interest that spurred me to want to know more about each of these women.
I would highly-recommend this read to those who love science, history, feminism, and generally just a good read.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
This is the standard of measure of all the women in the book Headstrong by Rachel Swaby. In this work, Swaby covers the lives and contributions of 52 women in varying branches of science including invention, physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and more. Why 52? Swaby reasons that there are 52 weeks in a year, and so in reading this book you can learn about a different female scientist each week.
Each selection is just a snapshot of their life and their lasting impact to human progress and innovation. Some of these portraits are only two pages long; the longest is only about 5 pages. Although each segment is brief, the value of having so many different contributions by women compiled together effectively drives home the point of the impact women have made to the umbrella of science area which they fall under and upon the larger world.
The work is fact-filled, interesting, full of trivia, and delivers strong evidence of the value of female scientists without harping on or getting lost in hot-button issues like male dominance in science and exclusion of women in the field. The book deals in facts, and these include the struggles women had to go to in obtaining education and standing in their passions within fields where they were the glaring minority.
My favorite profiles included those of Gerty Radnitz Cori, a Biochemistry scientist responsible for our understanding of glycogen; Virginia Apgar, who developed a test to establish newborn health standards; Marry Anning, a pioneer in paleontology and fossil discovery; Tilly Edinger, a Jewish woman who encountered Nazi targeting in establishing paleoneurology; Rachel Carson, the voice behind environmental awareness and author of "Silent Spring"; Rosalind Franklin, whom developed a structure of DNA that was "borrowed" by Watson and Crick; Hedy Lamarr, an well-known actress who also worked in tandem to invent a system for coded radio waves to aid torpedo navigation during war-time; and household name Florence Nightingale, responsible among many other contributions for her statistics work and suggestions for improved hospital conditions like better lighting and quiet time for recuperation that are still being pursued today.
Headstrong was enlightening and kept my interest. I see this being a valuable tool for students in researching these scientists, and grasping the timeline of scientific discovery more fully through human interest stories such as these. For me, this would be a recommended reading for college freshman or AP high-schoolers. The work is well-researched and written, and with such a variety of topics of interest that spurred me to want to know more about each of these women.
I would highly-recommend this read to those who love science, history, feminism, and generally just a good read.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
tabithar's review against another edition
2.0
I like the author's idea of having a female inventor/scientist hero per week for a year (52) for others to read about but the execution leaves much to be desired. In the process of my frustration, I've made a brief pro/con list (at the end of this review) that might benefit future readers or future writers for similar work. The book's author used some good resources so I feel puzzled by the tone of the book. These women each made significant achievements but the tone and perspective (seemingly unintentionally) downplays their accomplishments while making them seem more distanced as people apart from the norm rather than persons a reader would be capable of identifying as a role model.
On a limb, I'm guessing I'm not her target audience BUT I really couldn't tell what audience she was trying to target. My guess is that she was trying to make a condensed version of what was contained in books with longer entries. I think there's certainly a market for a book that manages to do this well.
Alternative books that have far better quality information:
"Nobel Prize Women in Science" by Sharon McGrayne gives good explanations of the science even for someone without a science background.
"The Madame Curie Complex" by Julie Des Jardins. Entries are longer than 20-30 pages each but are of substance. Some entries are on individual women and others are on a set of women which worked in a field of study.
Brief Pro/Con List
Pro: concept book about female contributors to science and engineering
entries are brief enough (typically 2-5 pages per person) that they shouldn't be too long for anyone to pick up and read an entry in a few minutes
inclusion of notes and citations in the back
organization of the women into fields of contribution
Con: rather than focusing on what motivated these women, there was more focus on what people (typically male figures in their lives) gave them a leg up
rather than giving a feeling of showing stages of work that led to a discovery/development (there are maybe 1-2 exceptions), it read as though these women were extraordinary among women and they just sat in the tub and thought and BAM genius occurred. While there may be instances of genius like this, reality is much background work occurs before an idea of merit and the ability to explore that idea can mature to a reality
the idea that most of these women had NO idea their work was of practical use/significance
(Thank God there were men around to see how their work was useful so it could get published/ applied with minimal credit to the inventor. [Please note that this sentence is dripping with sarcasm and disgust.])
vague explanations of what these women actually achieved
On a limb, I'm guessing I'm not her target audience BUT I really couldn't tell what audience she was trying to target. My guess is that she was trying to make a condensed version of what was contained in books with longer entries. I think there's certainly a market for a book that manages to do this well.
Alternative books that have far better quality information:
"Nobel Prize Women in Science" by Sharon McGrayne gives good explanations of the science even for someone without a science background.
"The Madame Curie Complex" by Julie Des Jardins. Entries are longer than 20-30 pages each but are of substance. Some entries are on individual women and others are on a set of women which worked in a field of study.
Brief Pro/Con List
Pro: concept book about female contributors to science and engineering
entries are brief enough (typically 2-5 pages per person) that they shouldn't be too long for anyone to pick up and read an entry in a few minutes
inclusion of notes and citations in the back
organization of the women into fields of contribution
Con: rather than focusing on what motivated these women, there was more focus on what people (typically male figures in their lives) gave them a leg up
rather than giving a feeling of showing stages of work that led to a discovery/development (there are maybe 1-2 exceptions), it read as though these women were extraordinary among women and they just sat in the tub and thought and BAM genius occurred. While there may be instances of genius like this, reality is much background work occurs before an idea of merit and the ability to explore that idea can mature to a reality
the idea that most of these women had NO idea their work was of practical use/significance
(Thank God there were men around to see how their work was useful so it could get published/ applied with minimal credit to the inventor. [Please note that this sentence is dripping with sarcasm and disgust.])
vague explanations of what these women actually achieved
janicerm79's review against another edition
3.0
Quick blurbs about women whose work significantly impacted world. Some fascinating and would love to take a deeper dive into their stories by reading books that focus on them and their work alone.
alliebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I did not read this book in the fashion it was intended, so take it with a grain of salt. This book will be perfect for teachers, or parents who want to inspire their daughters, to share with a middle school or high school girl one chapter at a time. I read it straight through, which got pretty repetitive and boring. Each woman did amazing things, and the stories were incredible, but unfortunately reading 3-5 pages about each one's accomplishments all in a row wasn't as inspiring.
Each chapter has clearly been incredibly well researched, and translated from complex scientific concepts into something a more general audience can understand. Sometimes it got a little too simple for my taste (ie, trying to use slang or familiar words/phrases), but if it's intended for a younger audience, it'll work really well.
In short, I'm really glad this book exists - I'd just recommend reading a chapter at a time here and there.
Each chapter has clearly been incredibly well researched, and translated from complex scientific concepts into something a more general audience can understand. Sometimes it got a little too simple for my taste (ie, trying to use slang or familiar words/phrases), but if it's intended for a younger audience, it'll work really well.
In short, I'm really glad this book exists - I'd just recommend reading a chapter at a time here and there.
waterwomanwinters's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.75
The book was overdue so I finished with the audiobook but I definitely preferred reading since it helped me pay attention. Great bite-sized stories. My one complaint is I wanted to learn more about each science field but that's just because I love science. Well written for a wide audience.
rlse's review against another edition
3.0
I'm ashamed at the number of names I recognized without ever knowing they were women. Same for the discoveries.