The Lost Women of Science

by Melina Gerosa Bellows, Katie Hafner, Karyn Lee (illustrator)

208 pages, Hardcover

Published August 19, 2025

Reviews

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook from the Library. It was very interesting information.

[Lefty Jeans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened from my local library. It was very informative and interesting. It was a good book.

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drawing on their well-regarded podcast, Bellows and Hafner offer up short biographies of a diverse group of 10 overlooked women scientists. They’ve arranged their entries in chronological order, so the book opens in the mid-19th century with a section on Eunice Norton Foote, the first person to theorize the concept of the greenhouse effect. As with all the essays, this one starts with a fact sheet listing Foote’s date of birth and death, a quote from a current scientist about Foote’s discovery, her “claim to fame”, why it matters, and a list of her “firsts”. We learn about Foote’s early life, education, and experiments, accompanied by period ephemera. A short essay on greenhouse gases, an experiment to try at home, and a discussion of spectroscopy all appear in a sans serif font, distinguishing these elements from the historical narrative, which appear in serif typeface. Two of the included scientists were doctors: Sarah Loguen Fraser, a Black woman who practiced in the Dominican Republic, and Dorothy Andersen, the first physician to diagnose cystic fibrosis. The rest are a varied lot and include a cryptanalyst, a computer programmer, and a seaweed scientist. 

Several common impediments that influenced the subjects’ careers reappear throughout the book, including educational barriers, lack of appropriate employment, and how the women’s accomplishments were “forgotten”, or, in many cases, subsumed into male achievement. The book’s prose is lively and readable, but never descends into informality, which makes the information feel authoritative and important. When possible, the authors have embedded quotes from their subjects into the narrative. The black-and-white digital illustrations show the women actively working on their inventions, theories, and experiments, supplementing the more formal, posed period photographs that the authors have managed to locate. Interested readers can also visit the podcast’s website for more details. None of these scientists were familiar to me and I really appreciated this fresh look at their important work. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Kem White · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I had taken my granddaughter to a local branch of one of the best public libraries in the country - the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore - when I stumbled across this book in the YA section. I'm a sucker for books on the history of science, so I checked it out.

Even though the book is aimed at younger YAs (I estimate from 4th to 7th grade), it held my attention and I learned a lot. The authors describe 10 female scientists and engineers who made important contributions in their fields, but were overlooked due to the fact that, you know, it's white men who deserve all the credit. Most importantly I learned about the Matilda effect, which is the systemic bias that minimizes or denies the contributions of women in science and engineering, often attributing their contributions to male colleagues. (Go read about Rosalind Franklin to see a huge example of this.) The book contains numerous sidebars that elucidate the scientific topics described in the book.

My only gripe is I thought the authors soft-pedaled descriptions of the unpleasantness of systemic prejudice and racism, particularly with respect to STEM women of color. They could have been more pointed in describing those effects. Highly recommended for YAs - both female *AND* male; recommended for anyone interested in the history of science.

I'm going to remember to give this book to my granddaughters when they're older so they can understand the science and the history.