Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics

by Nina Byers (Editor), Gary Williams (Editor)

Why are there so few prominent female physicists? Traditionally women have faced barriers in higher education, denying them access to higher learning and scientific laboratories. Today many of these barriers have been breached, but the female pioneers who overcame discrimination and became major players in their fields remain largely in the shadows. Their names deserve to be known and the importance of their work, achievements and contributions to science warrant recognition. Originally published in 2006, Out of the Shadows provides an accurate and authoritative description of the women who made original and important contributions to physics in the twentieth century, documenting their major discoveries and putting their work into its historical context. Each chapter concentrates on a different woman, and is written by a physicist with considerable experience in their field. The book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in science and social history.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Physics

498 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2006

Reviews

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost finished. It was due before I had a chance to read the last 8 biographies. A pretty quick read though.

Each biography starts with a description of the woman's most important contributions to science. Sometimes diagrams or a table of technical terms are included. Then her background and education are sketched. If the author knew the woman, personal anecdotes might be included. Notable publications and books for further reading were included at the end of each biography.

One thing that popped up in several of the biographies: the women were often prevented from being hired at the same university as their husband because of nepotism rules. But the university was fine giving them a basement lab or shed for them to work in, hey and maybe teach for free too. Ugh.

[Bruce Popp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has an impressive selection of women who made very worthy contributions to physics and also to astronomy (Swan Leavitt, Payne-Gaposchkin, Burbidge, Cooper Rubin, Bell Burnell) and math (Noether). Each woman is profiled by different authors and still the result is consistent and reads smoothly. The profiles are easy to read for an interested adult audience. They may also leave readers infuriated. Meitner and Bell Burnell were each denied well earned recognition by the Nobel Prize committees in 1944-45 and 1974, respectively.

[Jada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-done. The science was not watered down. I appreciated that the biographies were fairly brief and followed the descriptions of their scientific accomplishments - encouraging the focus to remain on their research and contributions to physics.