APRIL 2015 - AudioFile
A sense of clarity and importance is conveyed in Lauren Fortgang’s narration of Swaby’s concise biographies of female figures in twentieth-century science. Fifty-two women who made significant differences in seven scientific fields are introduced and recognized as the role models they became throughout their lifetimes. Swaby’s wittiness and Fortgang’s easy pace and engaging tone encourage listener interest in each groundbreaking scientist and lead to greater understanding of what each woman had to overcome to make her discovery. Passionate and feminine, Fortgang’s voice is the perfect fit for a book that seeks to increase recognition for women in science. D.Z. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Laura Helmuth
Swaby tells the scientists' stories with energy and clarity. Refreshingly, spouses and children are mentioned only when relevant…
Publishers Weekly
02/02/2015
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.)
From the Publisher
Swaby tells the scientists’ stories with energy and clarity. Refreshingly, spouses and children are mentioned only when relevant—and the book is recipe-free.”
—New York Times Book Review
“A corrective—a spur to change… Swaby’s subjects are all worthy women who deserve more publicity.”
—Wall Street Journal
“[A] collection of brisk, bright biographies.”
—The Washington Post
“Rachel Swaby’s no-nonsense and needed Headstrong dynamically profiles historically overlooked female visionaries in science, technology, engineering, and math.”
—Elle
"A woman revolutionized heart surgery. A woman created the standard test given to all newborns to determine their health. A woman was responsible for some of the earliest treatments of previously terminal cancers. We shouldn't need to be reminded of their names, but we do. With a deft touch, Rachel Swaby has assembled an inspiring collection of some of the central figures in twentieth century science. Headstrong is an eye-opening, much-needed exploration of the names history would do well to remember, and Swaby is a masterful guide through their stories."
—Maria Konnikova, Contributing New Yorker writer and New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
“Rachel Swaby's fine, smart look at women in science is a much-needed corrective to the record—a deftly balanced field guide to the overlooked (Hilde Mangold), the marginalized (Rosalind Franklin), the unexpected (Hedy Lamarr), the pioneering (Ada Lovelace), and the still-controversial (Rachel Carson). Swaby reminds us that science, like the rest of life, is a team sport played by both genders.”
—William Souder, author of On a Farther Shore and Under a Wild Sky
"Headstrong is a true gem. So many amazing women have had an incredible impact on STEM fields, and this book gives clear, concise, easy-to-digest histories of 52 of them—there’s no longer an excuse for not being familiar with our math and science heroines. Thank you, Rachel!"
—Danica McKellar, actress and New York Times bestselling author of Math Doesn’t Suck
“Swaby’s exuberant portrayals make this a compulsively readable title. There is no good reason why every single woman here is not a household name, and now, thankfully, Swaby is helping rectify history’s oversight.”
—Booklist
“Swaby celebrates barrier-breaking titans… [and] has collected an inspiration master list of women in science with accessible explanations of their work.”
—Publishers Weekly
“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. These short accounts should inspire girls who want to study science to follow their dreams….succinct and informative.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"[W]omen just don’t get the encouragement they need and deserve to pursue careers in science. Here’s a handy book to help encourage young women to put themselves on the scitech path, with profiles of 52 women from Nobel Prize winners to major innovators and more who have made a difference in science."
—Library Journal
Library Journal
11/15/2014
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.
APRIL 2015 - AudioFile
A sense of clarity and importance is conveyed in Lauren Fortgang’s narration of Swaby’s concise biographies of female figures in twentieth-century science. Fifty-two women who made significant differences in seven scientific fields are introduced and recognized as the role models they became throughout their lifetimes. Swaby’s wittiness and Fortgang’s easy pace and engaging tone encourage listener interest in each groundbreaking scientist and lead to greater understanding of what each woman had to overcome to make her discovery. Passionate and feminine, Fortgang’s voice is the perfect fit for a book that seeks to increase recognition for women in science. D.Z. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-12-29
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 École de Médecine, 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.
