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whitecat5000's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
1.0
DNF. I've been trying to read this for two weeks now, and I can't bring myself to pick it up anymore.
angela_the_librarian's review
3.0
It was really interesting to learn about the work of these scientists, but the writing style was pretty dull and repetitive.
ashesmann's review against another edition
3.0
Brief overview of ten women in science. Interesting, but sometimes I wished less time would be spent trying to paraphrase complicated sciences and more time would be spent on the inner workings of the women themselves.
eeebs's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed learning about these women yet I do wish there had been some more representation of the BIPOC women who also made an impact. I do not know enough about this world, hence my interest in this book, to understand why the focus appears to be on women from the US, UK, and western Europe.
I found myself skimming as these chapters seemed to speak for the feelings of these women but, what was the source material for that? I appreciated the direct quotes through interviews, letters, and writing but there still seems to be quite a bit much of it. Which felt fabricated in an attempt I suppose to create interest? That seemed unnecessary. It is worth knowing about their lives of course but attributing feeling words for someone else read a bit odd to me.
I found myself skimming as these chapters seemed to speak for the feelings of these women but, what was the source material for that? I appreciated the direct quotes through interviews, letters, and writing but there still seems to be quite a bit much of it. Which felt fabricated in an attempt I suppose to create interest? That seemed unnecessary. It is worth knowing about their lives of course but attributing feeling words for someone else read a bit odd to me.
caropi's review against another edition
4.0
As it says in this book we have a mini biography of 10 women that had changed science and in the majority of the cases they did not had the recognition that they deserve. I already listen about two of them and was very happy to learn about the others, I think that we should continue to explore more and more the biographies of these women, so when the new generations try to study science they will have persons to look forward and hopefully get the deserved recognition.
ghosthermione's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
A great overview of 10 amazing scientists who clearly made some crucial achievements. Perhaps a bit uncritical e.g. regarding nuclear physics for some of the scientists. And perhaps a little Western/White although the authors did include Chien-Shiung Wu, and a number of Jewish women: I wish at least one Black woman had been included.
Overall however it was really good in explaining the complex science (though it lost me at some of the nuclear physics...) and inspiring me to learn more about some of these women. I also really appreciated that they showed women with a diversity of paths in their personal life and career, showjng that you can be a mother/wife and scientist at the same time but you also don't have to. A lot of these women had "lost years" where they weren't able to study or find fitting work, mostly due to sexism, and it's interesting that regardless of those setbacks they managed to have brilliant careers. Perhaps this shows that it doesn't have to be straightforward and we can take a convoluted path towards our goals. That, to me, was inspiring, even though I'm not sure that was the authors' aim.
I also really appreciated the balance of biographical/personal life elements with scientific discoveries in these short biographies, and the time taken to run through the advancements that happened thanks to them - even after their death.
Overall however it was really good in explaining the complex science (though it lost me at some of the nuclear physics...) and inspiring me to learn more about some of these women. I also really appreciated that they showed women with a diversity of paths in their personal life and career, showjng that you can be a mother/wife and scientist at the same time but you also don't have to. A lot of these women had "lost years" where they weren't able to study or find fitting work, mostly due to sexism, and it's interesting that regardless of those setbacks they managed to have brilliant careers. Perhaps this shows that it doesn't have to be straightforward and we can take a convoluted path towards our goals. That, to me, was inspiring, even though I'm not sure that was the authors' aim.
I also really appreciated the balance of biographical/personal life elements with scientific discoveries in these short biographies, and the time taken to run through the advancements that happened thanks to them - even after their death.
silelda's review against another edition
4.0
*Book received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is an engaging collection of mini-biographies of 10 women who made significant contributions to science. Not only does it talk about them, it also gives a lot of context for their work and situations. This means we also get a lot of information about the world at the time as well as the science they were doing and how it fits into our understanding of science today. I genuinely appreciate how deeply these mini-biographies went into the science. Most of the stories are pretty well balanced between the history, biography and scientific information. Henrietta Leavitt's section focused mainly on the works of others but a lot of that could be because there was so little information about her available. It's a good collection overall, definitely of interest to those who are interested in the actual science that these women did. 4 hoots!
This book is an engaging collection of mini-biographies of 10 women who made significant contributions to science. Not only does it talk about them, it also gives a lot of context for their work and situations. This means we also get a lot of information about the world at the time as well as the science they were doing and how it fits into our understanding of science today. I genuinely appreciate how deeply these mini-biographies went into the science. Most of the stories are pretty well balanced between the history, biography and scientific information. Henrietta Leavitt's section focused mainly on the works of others but a lot of that could be because there was so little information about her available. It's a good collection overall, definitely of interest to those who are interested in the actual science that these women did. 4 hoots!
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