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Women of Discovery: A Celebration of Intrepid Women Who Explored the World
Across the centuries and from many lands, women have set forth on journeys of exploration. Visionaries, adventurers, artists, and scientists, these women challenged the limitations, both physical and social, of their times and, in the face of formidable challenges, expanded the world's body of knowledge.
Yet despite their extraordinary achievements, they have remained unknown and unsung for too long.
No longer. The stories of more than eighty extraordinary explorers and adventurers are vividly recounted and stunningly illustrated in Women of Discovery. Here for the first time are gathered the tales of early voyagers, such as the valiant tenth-century Viking adventurer Unn the Deep Minded and seventeenth-century Spanish conquistadora Catalina de Erauso. Intrepid explorers like Mary Kingsley in Africa, Alexandra David-Neel in Tibet, and Freya Stark in the Middle East traveled fearlessly into the blank spaces on the map. Artist explorers, including the great botanical painter Anna Maria Sibylla Merian in Surinam, writer Zora Neale Hurston in Haiti, and photographer Ruth Robertson in South America, captured in their art the beauty and mystery of exotic lands. Many brave women have ventured into extreme environments to bring back knowledge, whether they were aviators like Amelia Earhart, mountaineers like Annie Smith Peck, or Arctic explorers like Irina and Valentina Kuznetsova. And the annals of science would be far poorer without the work of such women as primatologists Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, ethnobotanist Nicole Maxwell, and ichthyologist Eugenie Clark.
This is truly a gathering of heroines, full of tales of courage, talent, intelligence, and sheer determination. With a foreword by renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour, Women of Discovery is a remarkable book, an achievement in its own right, and certain to thrill anyone captivated by the world-changing drama of exploration.
Yet despite their extraordinary achievements, they have remained unknown and unsung for too long.
No longer. The stories of more than eighty extraordinary explorers and adventurers are vividly recounted and stunningly illustrated in Women of Discovery. Here for the first time are gathered the tales of early voyagers, such as the valiant tenth-century Viking adventurer Unn the Deep Minded and seventeenth-century Spanish conquistadora Catalina de Erauso. Intrepid explorers like Mary Kingsley in Africa, Alexandra David-Neel in Tibet, and Freya Stark in the Middle East traveled fearlessly into the blank spaces on the map. Artist explorers, including the great botanical painter Anna Maria Sibylla Merian in Surinam, writer Zora Neale Hurston in Haiti, and photographer Ruth Robertson in South America, captured in their art the beauty and mystery of exotic lands. Many brave women have ventured into extreme environments to bring back knowledge, whether they were aviators like Amelia Earhart, mountaineers like Annie Smith Peck, or Arctic explorers like Irina and Valentina Kuznetsova. And the annals of science would be far poorer without the work of such women as primatologists Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, ethnobotanist Nicole Maxwell, and ichthyologist Eugenie Clark.
This is truly a gathering of heroines, full of tales of courage, talent, intelligence, and sheer determination. With a foreword by renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour, Women of Discovery is a remarkable book, an achievement in its own right, and certain to thrill anyone captivated by the world-changing drama of exploration.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 20, 2019
Angesichts des Datums der Erstveröffentlichung wird dieses Buch sicherlich eines der ersten seiner Art gewesen sein; etwas besonderes ist es definitiv nicht. Frauen erkunden die Welt reiht sich nahtlos in die Riege der amerikanisch-eurozentristischen "Guckt mal, Frauen machen auch Dinge!"-Bücher ein (und beinhaltet mit Leni Riefenstahl et al. auch noch eine Batterie zweifelhafter Charaktere), die zwar das feministische Allgemeinwissen erweitern, aber farüber hinaus keine wirklich gehaltvollen Aussagen treffen.
Vielleicht ist es berufsbedingt, aber ich habe diese Bücher über den "War-Zustand" sowas von über. Was fehlt, ist eindeutig mehr "Soll-Zustand", mehr Aktion, mehr Machen.
Vielleicht ist es berufsbedingt, aber ich habe diese Bücher über den "War-Zustand" sowas von über. Was fehlt, ist eindeutig mehr "Soll-Zustand", mehr Aktion, mehr Machen.
July 28, 2018
The subtitle perfectly describes this book - truly a "celebration of intrepid women" thematically grouped by faith, sagas, aviators, naturalists, writers, marine biologists, scuba divers, anthropologists, archaeologists, geologists, and many more for a total of 84. Fascinating and valuable. If I had read this in my teen years would I have made different life choices? Would a girl today reading this be inspired to follow an interest as passionately and bravely as these women did? I think so.
The snippets into their lives are concisely written, tantalizingly so - and well illustrated with maps, photographs, excerpts from books and letters.
Milbry Polk writes an excellent essay on exploration in the Introduction. She sought out through reading and research the women who explored the world in some way. She wrote, "For me, exploration is about the expansion of knowledge and experience. And this is why one can explore in a laboratory or a library." - as we can do in reading this fine book.
The snippets into their lives are concisely written, tantalizingly so - and well illustrated with maps, photographs, excerpts from books and letters.
Milbry Polk writes an excellent essay on exploration in the Introduction. She sought out through reading and research the women who explored the world in some way. She wrote, "For me, exploration is about the expansion of knowledge and experience. And this is why one can explore in a laboratory or a library." - as we can do in reading this fine book.
April 10, 2017
Despite a few typos and an odd organization, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, enough to rate it 5/5. I've read several reviews that label it a "good coffee table book." I disagree! This is the kind of book you can read to your kids (and not just to your daughters), because each explorer is given an average of 1-2 pages which makes it very easy to stay focused. Each story has multiple photos which enhances the storytelling and gives even more for kids to be interested in. As an adult I appreciated learning that many of these women explorers didn't begin their journeys until mid- to late- life, and were still able to make an impact on our collective understanding of our natural world. How inspiring and encouraging for all ages!
April 12, 2015
Just finished this very inspiring book. A must-read for lovers of adventure, history or women! :-)
November 1, 2022
Wenn zwei Frauen ein Buch über Forscherinnen schreiben, erwarte ich einen etwas differenzierteren Blick als Polk und Tiegreen hier liefern. Ist es bei Entdeckerinnen der letzten Jahrhunderte noch relevant, ob sie verheiratet waren, sollte dieser Umstand in der zweiten Hälfte des letzten Jahrhunderts keine große Rolle mehr spielen. Sowieso wird viel über die Biografie geschrieben im Verhältnis zu den Errungenschaften, denn jeder Forscherin fallen nur wenige Seiten zu. Ich fand das sehr unausgewogen und somit habe ich viele für mich belanglose Infos überlesen. Wahrscheinlich sind dadurch auch einige interessante Erkenntnisse an mir vorbeigegangen. Ach, und dieses ständige beim Vornamen nennen, das eine unangemessene Vertraulichkeit schaffen soll, wiederfährt männlichen Forschern auch deutlich seltener. Ne, das war leider nix.
August 18, 2025
I haven’t finished this book but am thinking I will buy it so I can peruse it at leisure—and return it to the library. It is a treasure! I read about a woman and then check her out on Wikipedia—or find another book about her or written by her. From a Dutch woman who traveled to Guyana to an scientist who studied elephant language (yes!) to a very early chronicler of a trip to the Holy Land (Egiria) or an interpreter for Cortez (Malinche) and some I’d read about before (Emily Hahn, Ida Pfeiffer, Isabella Bird, Lady Franklin). Each essay was just a page or two but captured my interest and sent me looking for more!
December 29, 2024
Fascinating bite sized history of explorers, climbers, scientists and everything in between.
May 6, 2014
So many amazing, wonderous women who have paved the way for the independence of women. This has great text as well as pictures of the exploits of women, many from times when women and their brains were invisible. Intrepid doesn't begin to describe them. This also covers modern adventuresses too. Jane Goodall remains my all time favorite and proves that if you have a will, there is a way. Nothing stopped these women. Loved this.
August 29, 2020
Readable stories of (western) women and the things they did that did not necessarily fall in line with expectations for women in that day. Likewise it is not in keeping with the image students have of women of the time.
June 7, 2008
This book is a fascinating compilation of the stories of pioneering women in all fields. It's lavishly illustrated and presented as a coffee table book.
July 30, 2010
Very interesting stories about 80 or so women who were/are explorers. Made me want to read more about many of these amazing women.
February 24, 2013
This was a really interesting look into the lives of adventurous women.
April 19, 2017
I really enjoyed this book of vignettes of lady explorers. Even many who were famous in their day have been forgotten in ours. It's a shame that so many are American- and Euro-centric just because of the availability of records. There are maybe two Asians mentioned. Almost all the rest are white Americans or Europeans. I think there was only one African American woman. Then again, given the circumstances of history, it's hard to figure out how this book would be made more diverse or inclusive.
One of my favorites was how a woman brought the Ottomans' discovery of vaccinating against plague to Europe. Unfortunately, because it was a woman who introduced it, and because she brought it from a "heathen" nation, the medical doctors of the day discounted it (even with demonstrable results), which caused many needless deaths. On the other hand, hand washing struggled to become an accepted medical practice when a man introduced it.
Cautions: Explicit reference to cannibalism, exposure to general danger, a few mentions of infidelity.
One of my favorites was how a woman brought the Ottomans' discovery of vaccinating against plague to Europe. Unfortunately, because it was a woman who introduced it, and because she brought it from a "heathen" nation, the medical doctors of the day discounted it (even with demonstrable results), which caused many needless deaths. On the other hand, hand washing struggled to become an accepted medical practice when a man introduced it.
Cautions: Explicit reference to cannibalism, exposure to general danger, a few mentions of infidelity.
April 24, 2017
An excellent introduction to female explorers, many of them undeservedly unknown today. The text is readable and informative, the highlights of each woman's private life and professional accomplishments presented succinctly and accompanied by numerous photos and illustrations. The lengthy bibliography makes it easy to find out more about these interesting women.
There are, however, a few too many typos and inconsistencies. For instance: Purdue University is twice spelled "Perdue"; Stark's The Valleys of the Assassins is referenced several times, but never by its correct title; Mary Akeley is said to have been "elected to the Royal Geographical Society in 1915, just two years after they opened their doors to women", but earlier we're told that Bebe Bwana was elected to the same in 1892; etc.
(Also, while several women in later chapters were included in the book solely on the basis of having proposed a startling new theory in their field, it ought to be noted that a couple of those theories have since been discredited.)
There are, however, a few too many typos and inconsistencies. For instance: Purdue University is twice spelled "Perdue"; Stark's The Valleys of the Assassins is referenced several times, but never by its correct title; Mary Akeley is said to have been "elected to the Royal Geographical Society in 1915, just two years after they opened their doors to women", but earlier we're told that Bebe Bwana was elected to the same in 1892; etc.
(Also, while several women in later chapters were included in the book solely on the basis of having proposed a startling new theory in their field, it ought to be noted that a couple of those theories have since been discredited.)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews