Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries, Second Edition
Since 1901 there have been over three hundred recipients of the Nobel Prize in the sciences. Only ten of them -- about 3 percent -- have been women. Why? \ In this updated version of Nobel Prize Women in Science, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores the reasons for this astonishing disparity by examining the lives and achievements of fifteen women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize - winning project. The book reveals the relentless discrimination...
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In Nobel Prize Women in Science, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores the reason for this astonishing disparity. She does so by examining the lives and achievements of fourteen women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project. It tells the dramatic stories of the relentless discrimination these women faced in universities, both as studenst seeking a scientific education and as researchers who wish to make their careers in scientific study and discovery. Their accomplishments were due to two factors: they were in love with science itself and were passionately determined to succeed. The book begins with Marie Curie, the scientist who unlocked the secrets of radioactivity, the key to understanding the human nucleus, and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in science, in 1903. Polish American Journal "Fascinating stories of the personal lives of these women as well as their scientific work provide compelling reading. ...an excellent gift for...anyone interested in science."
AcknowledgmentsAuthor to Reader1A Passion for Discovery3First Generation Pioneers2Marie Sklodowska Curie113Lise Meitner374Emmy Noether64Second Generation5Gerty Radnitz Cori936Irene Joliot-Curie1177Barbara McClintock1448Maria Goeppert Mayer1759Rita Levi-Montalcini20110Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin22511Chien-Shiung Wu25512Gertrude Elion28013Rosalind Franklin30414Rosalyn Sussman Yalow333The New Generation15Jocelyn Bell Burnell359Afterword381Notes383Index403
\ Polish American Journal"Fascinating stories of the personal lives of these women as well as their scientific work provide compelling reading. ...an excellent gift for...anyone interested in science."\ \ \ \ \ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Only nine of the more than 300 Nobel prizes awarded in science since 1901 have been won by women, notes science writer Bertsch as she sets the context for the biographical essays that follow. Examining the careers and lives of 14 women scientists ``who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel winning project,'' she movingly depicts their battles against gender discrimination for recognition and respect and she describes the self-conflict about their roles. Subjects range from Marie Curie (1867-1934) to such contemporaries as Rosalyn Yalow, awarded a Nobel Prize in 1977 for her work as a medical physicist, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell, an astrophysicist credited, at the age of 24, with the 1968 discovery of pulsars, who made large personal sacrifices for her science. Bertsch introduces the small pantheon of women leaders in science whose careers and words offer advice and inspiration, if small comfort, to women in science today. Photos. (Dec.)\ \ \ Library JournalAs the subtitle suggests, this book describes the lives and struggles of 14 women who were either awarded the Nobel Prize or played a critical part in the work of the men who received it. And the ``struggles'' were horrendous . From the nonadmission policies of most graduate schools, even as late as 1960, to the restrictive admission policies even at the undergraduate level, simply obtaining an adequate education in the sciences was a battle for women. And, with few exceptions, most of them had to take unpaid or lowly paid jobs if they wanted to do science. Tenured positions might be offered after the Nobel Prize was won! Bertsch is a former newspaper reporter, and her background is reflected in her terse, dramatic treatment of each woman. There is an excellent set of references, as well as a thoughtful introduction and conclusion. At the outset, Bertsch asks ``Why so few?''--at the conclusion, given the trials and tribulations, one wonders how so many endured. Highly recommended for all science collections.-- Hilary D. Burton, Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, Cal.\ \ \ \ \ BooknewsExploring the reasons why only nine of the more than 300 recipients of the Nobel Prize in science have been women, science writer McGrayne examines the lives and achievements of 14 women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project. Their stories are case studies of triumph over relentless gender discrimination. B&w photographs throughout. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
