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Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics
Prepare to be inspired. Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is a full-color volume that takes aim at the forgotten influence of women on the development of mathematics over the last two millennia.
You'll see each eminent mathematician come to life on each page, women like the astronomer-philosopher Hypatia, theoretical physicist Emmy Noether, and rocket scientist Annie Easley.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is an affirmation of female genius and a celebration of the boundless applications of mathematics. See their stories!
You'll see each eminent mathematician come to life on each page, women like the astronomer-philosopher Hypatia, theoretical physicist Emmy Noether, and rocket scientist Annie Easley.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is an affirmation of female genius and a celebration of the boundless applications of mathematics. See their stories!
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 8, 2018
53 people are currently reading
473 people want to read
About the author
Talithia Williams
2 books8 followersTalithia Williams is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and the Associate Dean for Research and Experiential Learning at Harvey Mudd College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Spelman College, a master’s degree in mathematics from Howard University and her Ph.D. in Statistics from Rice University. Her professional experiences include research appointments at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and the National Security Agency.
Renowned for her popular TED Talk, “Own Your Body’s Data,” Dr. Williams takes sophisticated numerical concepts and makes them understandable to a wide audience. She won the Mathematical Association of America’s Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member, which honors faculty members whose teaching is effective and extraordinary, and extends its influence beyond the classroom.
In her research, Dr. Williams develops statistical models that emphasize the spatial and temporal structure of data. She has partnered with the World Health Organization in developing a model to predict the annual number of cataract surgeries needed to eliminate blindness in Africa.
Dr. Williams is cohost of the PBS series NOVA Wonders, and she has delivered speeches around the country on the value of statistics in quantifying personal health information.
Renowned for her popular TED Talk, “Own Your Body’s Data,” Dr. Williams takes sophisticated numerical concepts and makes them understandable to a wide audience. She won the Mathematical Association of America’s Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member, which honors faculty members whose teaching is effective and extraordinary, and extends its influence beyond the classroom.
In her research, Dr. Williams develops statistical models that emphasize the spatial and temporal structure of data. She has partnered with the World Health Organization in developing a model to predict the annual number of cataract surgeries needed to eliminate blindness in Africa.
Dr. Williams is cohost of the PBS series NOVA Wonders, and she has delivered speeches around the country on the value of statistics in quantifying personal health information.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 16, 2019
A very inspiring account along the lines of 'women can do anything they put their mind to'.
Inspiring, really. One also has to take into account that many of the girls and wonen in here have been not exclusively mathematicians but also astonomers and philosophers (for ex. Hypatia), programmers (for ex. Amazing Grace Hopper aka Grandma Cobol, the 1st and oldest ever female US Navy admiral (?), the gal, who decided it's a good idea to create code libraries and whose team did the 1st debugging ever and legendarily an actual one at that, since some unlucky critter happened to crawl into one those big-ass machines they operated then, the trailblazers' wildest inspiration) and so on.
As for the maths, I would have liked to have more specifics included in there. Frankly, I wouldn't have said no even to a bunch of textbooks inbuilt to this book, so it's mostly my cranky self raining on this parade of mavericks and mavens and polymaths of the world! Hats off!
Q:
Hail the triumph of the corset
Hail the fair Philippa Fawcett
Victress in the fray
Crown her queen of Hydrostatics
And the other Mathematics
Wreathe her brow with bay.
If you entertain objections
To such things as conic sections
Put them out of sight
Rather sing of the essential
Beauty of the Differential
Calculus tonight.
Worthy of our approbation
She who works out an equation
By whatever ruse
Brighter than the Rose of Sharon
Are the beauties of the square on
The hypotenuse.
Curve and angle let her con and
Parallelopipedon and
Parallelogram
Few can equal, none can beat her
At eliminating theta
By the river Cam.
May she increase in knowledge daily
Till the great Professor Cayley
Owns himself surpassed
Till the great Professor Salmon
Votes his own achievements gammon
And admires aghast. (c)
Q:
An uncle is said to have sparked Kovalevskaya’s curiosity in mathematics, discussing mathematical concepts with her when she was quite young…
Although her father ended her mathematics lessons, Kovalevskaya simply read a borrowed algebra book while everyone was asleep. Eager to expand her knowledge, she studied a physics textbook authored by a neighboring professor …
Those mathematical concepts further inspired the young Kovalevskaya when, because of a wallpaper shortage, her nursery walls were covered with her father’s notes on differential and integral analysis. (c) Actually, nope. Wallpapers in the chilren’s room were what started it all: pages out of algebra and high math textbooks. Sophia reminisced afterwards that, as a child, she would spend hours perusing the walls, trying to make sense of what was In those pages. This is how she came to be interested of it. She was basically 5-6 years old when this was happening. I sort of doubt any professors worked with her when she was 2-3-4 years old. Timeline definitely mangled here.
Q:
Noether’s Theorem. In essence, this finding states that wherever there is symmetry in nature, there is a corresponding conservation of energy, momentum, and electric charge. For example, a symmetry of time (e.g., no matter when you toss a ball in the air, the trajectory remains the same) can be explained by the notion of conservation of energy (i.e., the total energy of an isolated system is invariant, or “conserved,” over time). (c)
Q:
Ross died in 2008, just months before her one hundredth birthday, and was always grateful for everything in her life: “I have been lucky to have had so much fun. It has been an adventure all the way.” Ross is buried in Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma. Her tombstone features a rocket along with the inscription “She Reached for the Stars.” (c)
Q:
Dorothy Vaughan: I changed what I could, and what I couldn’t, I endured. (c)
Q:
Katherine Johnson:
In the early days of NASA, women were not allowed to put their names on the reports—no woman in my division had had her name on a report. I was working with Ted Skopinski and he wanted to leave and go to Houston… but Henry Pearson, our supervisor—he was not a fan of women—kept pushing him to finish the report we were working on. Finally, Ted told him, “Katherine should finish the report, she’s done most of the work anyway.” So Ted left Pearson with no choice; I finished the report and my name went on it, and that was the first time that a woman in our division had her name on something" …
“I liked work. I liked the stars and the stories we were telling. And it was a joy to contribute to the literature that was going to be coming out. But little did I think that it would go this far.” (c)
Q:
Shakuntala Devi: Nobody challenges me. I challenge myself.(c)
Q:
How does one prepare for work in a field that does not yet exist? In Margaret Hamilton’s case, she was well educated, fearless, and in the right place at the right time. (c)
Q:
Irish mathematics professor, TV presenter, and musician Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (b. 1983) has used her celebrity to combat the crusty image of scientists as “men in white coats with terrible hair” (c)
Q:
Chelsea Walton:
I remember waiting for that AOL dial-up modem to connect while I made my list of items to look up: “Mathematics + career,” “Math + beautiful,” and “Can I do logic puzzles all day and get paid for this? (c)
Inspiring, really. One also has to take into account that many of the girls and wonen in here have been not exclusively mathematicians but also astonomers and philosophers (for ex. Hypatia), programmers (for ex. Amazing Grace Hopper aka Grandma Cobol, the 1st and oldest ever female US Navy admiral (?), the gal, who decided it's a good idea to create code libraries and whose team did the 1st debugging ever and legendarily an actual one at that, since some unlucky critter happened to crawl into one those big-ass machines they operated then, the trailblazers' wildest inspiration) and so on.
As for the maths, I would have liked to have more specifics included in there. Frankly, I wouldn't have said no even to a bunch of textbooks inbuilt to this book, so it's mostly my cranky self raining on this parade of mavericks and mavens and polymaths of the world! Hats off!
Q:
Hail the triumph of the corset
Hail the fair Philippa Fawcett
Victress in the fray
Crown her queen of Hydrostatics
And the other Mathematics
Wreathe her brow with bay.
If you entertain objections
To such things as conic sections
Put them out of sight
Rather sing of the essential
Beauty of the Differential
Calculus tonight.
Worthy of our approbation
She who works out an equation
By whatever ruse
Brighter than the Rose of Sharon
Are the beauties of the square on
The hypotenuse.
Curve and angle let her con and
Parallelopipedon and
Parallelogram
Few can equal, none can beat her
At eliminating theta
By the river Cam.
May she increase in knowledge daily
Till the great Professor Cayley
Owns himself surpassed
Till the great Professor Salmon
Votes his own achievements gammon
And admires aghast. (c)
Q:
An uncle is said to have sparked Kovalevskaya’s curiosity in mathematics, discussing mathematical concepts with her when she was quite young…
Although her father ended her mathematics lessons, Kovalevskaya simply read a borrowed algebra book while everyone was asleep. Eager to expand her knowledge, she studied a physics textbook authored by a neighboring professor …
Those mathematical concepts further inspired the young Kovalevskaya when, because of a wallpaper shortage, her nursery walls were covered with her father’s notes on differential and integral analysis. (c) Actually, nope. Wallpapers in the chilren’s room were what started it all: pages out of algebra and high math textbooks. Sophia reminisced afterwards that, as a child, she would spend hours perusing the walls, trying to make sense of what was In those pages. This is how she came to be interested of it. She was basically 5-6 years old when this was happening. I sort of doubt any professors worked with her when she was 2-3-4 years old. Timeline definitely mangled here.
Q:
Noether’s Theorem. In essence, this finding states that wherever there is symmetry in nature, there is a corresponding conservation of energy, momentum, and electric charge. For example, a symmetry of time (e.g., no matter when you toss a ball in the air, the trajectory remains the same) can be explained by the notion of conservation of energy (i.e., the total energy of an isolated system is invariant, or “conserved,” over time). (c)
Q:
Ross died in 2008, just months before her one hundredth birthday, and was always grateful for everything in her life: “I have been lucky to have had so much fun. It has been an adventure all the way.” Ross is buried in Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma. Her tombstone features a rocket along with the inscription “She Reached for the Stars.” (c)
Q:
Dorothy Vaughan: I changed what I could, and what I couldn’t, I endured. (c)
Q:
Katherine Johnson:
In the early days of NASA, women were not allowed to put their names on the reports—no woman in my division had had her name on a report. I was working with Ted Skopinski and he wanted to leave and go to Houston… but Henry Pearson, our supervisor—he was not a fan of women—kept pushing him to finish the report we were working on. Finally, Ted told him, “Katherine should finish the report, she’s done most of the work anyway.” So Ted left Pearson with no choice; I finished the report and my name went on it, and that was the first time that a woman in our division had her name on something" …
“I liked work. I liked the stars and the stories we were telling. And it was a joy to contribute to the literature that was going to be coming out. But little did I think that it would go this far.” (c)
Q:
Shakuntala Devi: Nobody challenges me. I challenge myself.(c)
Q:
How does one prepare for work in a field that does not yet exist? In Margaret Hamilton’s case, she was well educated, fearless, and in the right place at the right time. (c)
Q:
Irish mathematics professor, TV presenter, and musician Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (b. 1983) has used her celebrity to combat the crusty image of scientists as “men in white coats with terrible hair” (c)
Q:
Chelsea Walton:
I remember waiting for that AOL dial-up modem to connect while I made my list of items to look up: “Mathematics + career,” “Math + beautiful,” and “Can I do logic puzzles all day and get paid for this? (c)
December 14, 2024
"In middle school she was a poor math student" (from Maryam Mirzakhani's profile)
Where did the author get this piece of information from?!
Also from the same profile: "Iranian newspapers celebrate Mirzakhani a day after her death on July 14, 2017. Some of them broke cultural taboo, picturing the mathematician with her hair uncovered." So Iranian women cover their hair because of some cultural taboo and not the Islamists' compulsory-hijab policy? Hilarious!
Where did the author get this piece of information from?!
Also from the same profile: "Iranian newspapers celebrate Mirzakhani a day after her death on July 14, 2017. Some of them broke cultural taboo, picturing the mathematician with her hair uncovered." So Iranian women cover their hair because of some cultural taboo and not the Islamists' compulsory-hijab policy? Hilarious!
October 31, 2021
قبل از هر چیز
میخواستم این خواهش رو کنم که باعث دیده شدن این ریویو بشید 🙏🏻
کتاب های خوب بسیاری هستند که براشون تبلیغات تجاری نشده و باعث تاسف هست که خواننده هایی به این کمی داشته این صفحه
“ زنان سرکش دنیای ریاضیات “ یکی از همین کتاب هاست
دوس دارم ۱۰۰ نسخه از این کتاب رو تهیه کنم و هر خانم باعرضه ای که دیدم بهش تقدیم کنم
بگم ممنونم که صبوری
ممنونم که با همه ناملایمت ها اینجوری سفت و سخت برای زندگیت ، برای چیزی که دوسش داری ، برای هدفت …. می جنگی
«به گمانم خودش واقعا خبر نداشت که آن گونه که دیگران میگفتند نابغه است .
برای ما که فقط مامان بود .»
🍃ان همند ، دختر واگان🍃
+++
مشوق خیلی خوبی میتونه باشه
خیلی دوسش داشتم
در کنار بخش هیستوری یا خود ضابطه های ریاضی
یه سری نظریه ها و اثبات های جالبی داشت
مثلا تاثیر ریاضی رو بر درمان سرطان یا حتی آشپزی
( یوجینیا چِنگ : آشپزها می توانند با ریاضی ، توازن “کامل” بین خمیر و قطعات را به دست آوردند )
اعداد زنده اند ؛ آنها صرفا نمادهای روی کاغذ نیستند
🍃شاکونتالا دوی🍃
بخش دوس داشتنی تر این مجموعه که مربوط به ریاضی دان محبوب ایرانی پروفسور میرزاخانی میشد ، قشنگیِ این کتاب رو دوچندان میکرد🌸💗
جملات انگیزشی خیلی قشنگی هم میشد نوت برداشت
چنتایی رو می نویسم
« وقت هایی می شد که باید قلم را زمین می گذاشتم و آه می کشیدم . اما من عاشق این کارم و تسلیم نمی شوم »
🍃وانگ ژنی🍃
کامیابی در ریاضیات ، بیشتر در گرو سخت کوشی و پایداری است تا توانایی های طبیعی . این اندرز من در واقع در هر کاری برای هر کسی مصداق دارد ، اما در حوزه هایی مثل ریاضیات و فیزیک که دیدگاه سنتی این بوده که برای موفق بودن ، توانایی های طبیعی حرف اول را می زنند به ویژه اهمیت دارد .
🍃ماریا کلاوه🍃
هر طور شده ثابت قدم باش ، اگر رویایی در سر داری بگذار راهبردت باشد ، ولو اینکه ناممکن یا نابخردانه باشد.
🍃تاتیانا تورو🍃
در دوره تکمیلی تحصیلاتت به جای نگاه کردن به دوروبر و نگرانی از اینکه چند دانشجو از تو بهترند ، بهتر نیست ببینی که آیا دوروبر تو کسی هست که بتوانی دستش را بگیری و بالاترش بکشی ؟
🍃کارن ای.اسمیت🍃
من که فکر نمیکنم این سو و آن سو نشستن و ناله کردن (که جای زنان در این عرصه خالی است) ثمر بخش باشد. این چیزی را حل نمی کند. با حل قضیه های سخت ، ثابت کن آدم ها در اشتباه اند.
🍃جیگلیولا استافیلانی🍃
بعضی آدم ها نادیده ات می گیرند و برخی به عمد خود را به ناشنوایی می زنند . دلسرد نشو ، به چشم بیا ، حضور داشته باش ، محکم باش.
🍃ترچت جکسون🍃
کسی رقیبم نیست . خودم رقیب خودم هستم
🍃شاکونتالا دوی🍃
میخواستم این خواهش رو کنم که باعث دیده شدن این ریویو بشید 🙏🏻
کتاب های خوب بسیاری هستند که براشون تبلیغات تجاری نشده و باعث تاسف هست که خواننده هایی به این کمی داشته این صفحه
“ زنان سرکش دنیای ریاضیات “ یکی از همین کتاب هاست
دوس دارم ۱۰۰ نسخه از این کتاب رو تهیه کنم و هر خانم باعرضه ای که دیدم بهش تقدیم کنم
بگم ممنونم که صبوری
ممنونم که با همه ناملایمت ها اینجوری سفت و سخت برای زندگیت ، برای چیزی که دوسش داری ، برای هدفت …. می جنگی
«به گمانم خودش واقعا خبر نداشت که آن گونه که دیگران میگفتند نابغه است .
برای ما که فقط مامان بود .»
🍃ان همند ، دختر واگان🍃
+++
مشوق خیلی خوبی میتونه باشه
خیلی دوسش داشتم
در کنار بخش هیستوری یا خود ضابطه های ریاضی
یه سری نظریه ها و اثبات های جالبی داشت
مثلا تاثیر ریاضی رو بر درمان سرطان یا حتی آشپزی
( یوجینیا چِنگ : آشپزها می توانند با ریاضی ، توازن “کامل” بین خمیر و قطعات را به دست آوردند )
اعداد زنده اند ؛ آنها صرفا نمادهای روی کاغذ نیستند
🍃شاکونتالا دوی🍃
بخش دوس داشتنی تر این مجموعه که مربوط به ریاضی دان محبوب ایرانی پروفسور میرزاخانی میشد ، قشنگیِ این کتاب رو دوچندان میکرد🌸💗
جملات انگیزشی خیلی قشنگی هم میشد نوت برداشت
چنتایی رو می نویسم
« وقت هایی می شد که باید قلم را زمین می گذاشتم و آه می کشیدم . اما من عاشق این کارم و تسلیم نمی شوم »
🍃وانگ ژنی🍃
کامیابی در ریاضیات ، بیشتر در گرو سخت کوشی و پایداری است تا توانایی های طبیعی . این اندرز من در واقع در هر کاری برای هر کسی مصداق دارد ، اما در حوزه هایی مثل ریاضیات و فیزیک که دیدگاه سنتی این بوده که برای موفق بودن ، توانایی های طبیعی حرف اول را می زنند به ویژه اهمیت دارد .
🍃ماریا کلاوه🍃
هر طور شده ثابت قدم باش ، اگر رویایی در سر داری بگذار راهبردت باشد ، ولو اینکه ناممکن یا نابخردانه باشد.
🍃تاتیانا تورو🍃
در دوره تکمیلی تحصیلاتت به جای نگاه کردن به دوروبر و نگرانی از اینکه چند دانشجو از تو بهترند ، بهتر نیست ببینی که آیا دوروبر تو کسی هست که بتوانی دستش را بگیری و بالاترش بکشی ؟
🍃کارن ای.اسمیت🍃
من که فکر نمیکنم این سو و آن سو نشستن و ناله کردن (که جای زنان در این عرصه خالی است) ثمر بخش باشد. این چیزی را حل نمی کند. با حل قضیه های سخت ، ثابت کن آدم ها در اشتباه اند.
🍃جیگلیولا استافیلانی🍃
بعضی آدم ها نادیده ات می گیرند و برخی به عمد خود را به ناشنوایی می زنند . دلسرد نشو ، به چشم بیا ، حضور داشته باش ، محکم باش.
🍃ترچت جکسون🍃
کسی رقیبم نیست . خودم رقیب خودم هستم
🍃شاکونتالا دوی🍃
March 3, 2018
Talithia Williams has done an amazing job with this book by bringing to attention so many awe-inspiring women, whose power of will and background in mathematics lead them to have such astounding contribution in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields and not only. Whether their work was/is in pure or applied mathematics, their contribution to science and society is remarkable.
The author herself has a Ph.D. in Statistics, is an advocate for engaging more women in engineering and science and was the first African-American woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College.
The book is divided in three parts: I - The Pioneers, II - From Code Breaking to Rocket Science and III - Modern Math Mavens, detailing the careers and achievements of thirty women scientists, with brief mention of few others.
I will not enumerate all of them here, but I will mention some, to have a clue what this book brings.
In Part I : The Pioneers, we get to meet:
- Sofia Kovalevskaya, great mathematician, but also a writer and advocate of women's rights in the 19th century;
- Sophie Germain, whose most known work is in number theory, with several important contributions to the investigation of Fermat's Last Theorem. There is a crater on Venus named after her;
- Euphemia Haynes, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1943;
- Emmy Noether, cofounder of modern algebra. In 1915 she joined the Mathematical Institute in Göttingen and started working on Einstein's general relativity theory. In 1918 she proved two theorems that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics. One is still known as "Noether's Theorem." A crater on Moon bears her name.
Part II: From Code Breaking to Rocket Science:
- Agnes Mayer, whose skills at deciphering military and diplomatic communications during WWI and afterwards, won her the nicknames of “Madame X” and “the first lady of cryptology“;
- Irene (Kaminka) Fischer, among other notable achievements, worked on developing the World Geodetic System, that makes the GPS possible;
- Grace Hopper, creator of first computer compiler;
- Mary Golda Ross, first Native American (Cherokee) woman engineer and pioneering rocket scientist;
- Katherine G. Johnson, who made fundamental contributions to the United States space program and is best known for calculating the trajectories for many NASA missions, among them the Apollo 11 flight to the moon and the Apollo 13 lunar flight that returned safely home after having to be aborted;
Part III: Modern Math Mavens:
- Sylvia T. Bozeman, beside her contributions in the field, she and Rhonda Hughes launched in 1998 the EGDE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) program to help female students get the support to finish their advanced degrees;
- Maria Klawe, known for her works concerning algorithms for solving geometric optimization problems and others, also founded the Aphasia Project, a collaboration between UBC and Princeton to study aphasia and develop cognitive aids for people suffering from it, after her friend Anita Borg developed brain cancer;
- Ingrid Daubechies, best known for her work with wavelets in image compression and the first woman to be president of the International Mathematical Union (2011-2014);
- Daina Taimin, a Latvian mathematician, currently Adjunct Associate Professor at Cornell University who created the first physical model of a hyperbolic plane by crochet!
Here’s a lecture of hers on TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1TBZ...
I must admit, to my shame, that I only knew about three of the women depicted in here, and that knowledge was more than brief. But it’s never too late to learn (and that is one among many reasons I love to read).
We get to know them not only through the author’s words but also from pictures that enrich the enjoyment of reading this book. Their stories are not only touching but also very inspiring and I was deeply moved by the photos of these women being awarded for their contributions. Because most of them had to struggle hard to achieve their dreams. However, through sheer determination, support from family and teachers and their undeterred will, they succeeded.
Many of them were/are not only mathematicians, but artists as well, and successfully combine the two, as well as projected the math knowledge in medicine, genetics, biology and many other fields. How I wish I had read this when I was 18 and stupid…
I can’t recommend this book enough. Not only you will learn about all these wonderful and inspiring women, but you’ll also enlarge your knowledge of how many practical contributions in various other fields applied mathematics have. It’s one of the best books in popularizing science and as a biography as well that I read so far.
P.S. Williams also mentions two other books which I think are of interest: Nihilist Girl, autobiography by Sofia Kovalevskaya and Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, on which the movie with the same name is based upon.
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>>> Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing for granting my request to read this ARC, via NetGalley <<<
The author herself has a Ph.D. in Statistics, is an advocate for engaging more women in engineering and science and was the first African-American woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College.
The book is divided in three parts: I - The Pioneers, II - From Code Breaking to Rocket Science and III - Modern Math Mavens, detailing the careers and achievements of thirty women scientists, with brief mention of few others.
I will not enumerate all of them here, but I will mention some, to have a clue what this book brings.
In Part I : The Pioneers, we get to meet:
- Sofia Kovalevskaya, great mathematician, but also a writer and advocate of women's rights in the 19th century;
- Sophie Germain, whose most known work is in number theory, with several important contributions to the investigation of Fermat's Last Theorem. There is a crater on Venus named after her;
- Euphemia Haynes, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1943;
- Emmy Noether, cofounder of modern algebra. In 1915 she joined the Mathematical Institute in Göttingen and started working on Einstein's general relativity theory. In 1918 she proved two theorems that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics. One is still known as "Noether's Theorem." A crater on Moon bears her name.
Part II: From Code Breaking to Rocket Science:
- Agnes Mayer, whose skills at deciphering military and diplomatic communications during WWI and afterwards, won her the nicknames of “Madame X” and “the first lady of cryptology“;
- Irene (Kaminka) Fischer, among other notable achievements, worked on developing the World Geodetic System, that makes the GPS possible;
- Grace Hopper, creator of first computer compiler;
- Mary Golda Ross, first Native American (Cherokee) woman engineer and pioneering rocket scientist;
- Katherine G. Johnson, who made fundamental contributions to the United States space program and is best known for calculating the trajectories for many NASA missions, among them the Apollo 11 flight to the moon and the Apollo 13 lunar flight that returned safely home after having to be aborted;
Part III: Modern Math Mavens:
- Sylvia T. Bozeman, beside her contributions in the field, she and Rhonda Hughes launched in 1998 the EGDE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) program to help female students get the support to finish their advanced degrees;
- Maria Klawe, known for her works concerning algorithms for solving geometric optimization problems and others, also founded the Aphasia Project, a collaboration between UBC and Princeton to study aphasia and develop cognitive aids for people suffering from it, after her friend Anita Borg developed brain cancer;
- Ingrid Daubechies, best known for her work with wavelets in image compression and the first woman to be president of the International Mathematical Union (2011-2014);
- Daina Taimin, a Latvian mathematician, currently Adjunct Associate Professor at Cornell University who created the first physical model of a hyperbolic plane by crochet!
Here’s a lecture of hers on TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1TBZ...
I must admit, to my shame, that I only knew about three of the women depicted in here, and that knowledge was more than brief. But it’s never too late to learn (and that is one among many reasons I love to read).
We get to know them not only through the author’s words but also from pictures that enrich the enjoyment of reading this book. Their stories are not only touching but also very inspiring and I was deeply moved by the photos of these women being awarded for their contributions. Because most of them had to struggle hard to achieve their dreams. However, through sheer determination, support from family and teachers and their undeterred will, they succeeded.
Many of them were/are not only mathematicians, but artists as well, and successfully combine the two, as well as projected the math knowledge in medicine, genetics, biology and many other fields. How I wish I had read this when I was 18 and stupid…
I can’t recommend this book enough. Not only you will learn about all these wonderful and inspiring women, but you’ll also enlarge your knowledge of how many practical contributions in various other fields applied mathematics have. It’s one of the best books in popularizing science and as a biography as well that I read so far.
P.S. Williams also mentions two other books which I think are of interest: Nihilist Girl, autobiography by Sofia Kovalevskaya and Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, on which the movie with the same name is based upon.
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>>> Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Race Point Publishing for granting my request to read this ARC, via NetGalley <<<
August 26, 2022
Inspiring and moving that's all I can say.
اعتراف میکنم این کتاب رو به خاطر خانم مریم میرزاخانی شروع کردم ولی با خوندن داستان همه ی اون ادم ها و مسیری که طی کردن و سختی هایی که کشیدن چندین برابر تحت تاثیر قرار گرفتم.
وقتایی که کارم پیش نمیره و فکر میکنم به بن بست رسیدم یاد حرفای اونا میوفتم و حس میکنم مدیون تمام تلاشهایی هستیم که این آدم ها کشیدن تا راه برای ما یکم ساده تر بشه و با این دید ادامه میدم🥲
اعتراف میکنم این کتاب رو به خاطر خانم مریم میرزاخانی شروع کردم ولی با خوندن داستان همه ی اون ادم ها و مسیری که طی کردن و سختی هایی که کشیدن چندین برابر تحت تاثیر قرار گرفتم.
وقتایی که کارم پیش نمیره و فکر میکنم به بن بست رسیدم یاد حرفای اونا میوفتم و حس میکنم مدیون تمام تلاشهایی هستیم که این آدم ها کشیدن تا راه برای ما یکم ساده تر بشه و با این دید ادامه میدم🥲
August 27, 2018
I‘ve read quite a few of these “compilation of inspiring women in stem” books by now, but I was still super excited when I found this one, as I am a mathematician myself, and this book focuses entirely on female mathematicians. With hopes and expectations this high, it would have been quite easy to be disappointed, but luckily I really liked it.
Here are some things I like about this book (in no particular order):
* It does not dwell too much in the past. There are a few profiles of historical mathematicians, but most of the book focuses on modern day researchers. I like this a lot, especially as every other compilation includes more or less the same historical women and thus it is a lot more difficult to learn about current researchers than about them.
* It is very diverse (though the third part focuses a lot on women working in the US), showing that people (women) from all kind of backgrounds are able to build a career in math
* It has a lot of pictures of the women and their work, and most are very well chosen and actually really help to make the person “more real”.
* It does not shy away from actually explaining what these women are working on. This can get a bit technical, and I’m quite sure that these passages are very hard to understand for people without a math background, but for me it just made the respective person more interesting. Also I think that it’s really hard to explain very abstract topics in just one paragraph, and using more space would completely alienate readers who want to learn about the women but not necessarily about the mathematics.
There are also a few (minor) issues with this book, but the sheer number of very obvious typos in this book really disappointed me. It seems that its publishing was quite rushed and no one had time to use a basic spellchecker before printing. I hope that this will be addressed in future editions of this book. It did not affect the rating, however, because it’s not the author’s fault, but the publisher’s.
Here are some things I like about this book (in no particular order):
* It does not dwell too much in the past. There are a few profiles of historical mathematicians, but most of the book focuses on modern day researchers. I like this a lot, especially as every other compilation includes more or less the same historical women and thus it is a lot more difficult to learn about current researchers than about them.
* It is very diverse (though the third part focuses a lot on women working in the US), showing that people (women) from all kind of backgrounds are able to build a career in math
* It has a lot of pictures of the women and their work, and most are very well chosen and actually really help to make the person “more real”.
* It does not shy away from actually explaining what these women are working on. This can get a bit technical, and I’m quite sure that these passages are very hard to understand for people without a math background, but for me it just made the respective person more interesting. Also I think that it’s really hard to explain very abstract topics in just one paragraph, and using more space would completely alienate readers who want to learn about the women but not necessarily about the mathematics.
There are also a few (minor) issues with this book, but the sheer number of very obvious typos in this book really disappointed me. It seems that its publishing was quite rushed and no one had time to use a basic spellchecker before printing. I hope that this will be addressed in future editions of this book. It did not affect the rating, however, because it’s not the author’s fault, but the publisher’s.
November 25, 2021
نویسنده خودش ریاضیدان سیاهپوست هست و بیشتر خانمهایی که معرفی میکنه هم همنژادشند. ترجمه به نظرم ویراستاری ریاضی لازم داره.
May 1, 2018
3.5 stars.
Although I have never been a math-minded person, I still enjoy learning about some aspects of math, including mathematicians. This book includes brief biographies of 30 women mathematicians throughout history who have defied the harsh barriers put up against them in the math world and built successful and influential careers in mathematics. I especially enjoyed the first section which focused on many of the women pioneers of math, all of whom figured out vital formulas and/or theories that are now basis for higher level concepts. The second section focused on women who helped in the Space Race by using their math and computer expertise, while the third focused on modern day women who have continued to break barriers. There is a huge amount of diversity in this book as well, making it all the more inspiring to a wider audience of younger (and even some older readers).
That being said it was definitely geared towards readers who are already interested in STEM and understand some more advanced concepts, but who may not be sure if they can do anything with their passion once they graduate high school. For those of us who aren’t STEM-inclined, it’s still an inspiring and interesting read, but might be a bit of skim-read in sections where the math explanations come into play. It could have been made even more accessible had a glossary been included (there still may be, seeing as I read an advanced copy), to clarify many of the concepts and terms casually mentioned throughout.
It definitely made me more interested to learn more about some of the pioneers in the math field, those who came up with vital formulas and proofs that are still used as bases for concepts today. The formatting of the book is also very visually pleasing and the biographies are incredibly informative, but they aren’t overly long (most are about 3-4 pages). The bibliography is also very extensive.
I felt it was still too technical in its terminology of explaining many of the theories for it to be widely appealing to both math and non-math minded individuals. However, I would definitely still recommend it as a good book for those who are of the former, especially those who are interested in history as well!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
Although I have never been a math-minded person, I still enjoy learning about some aspects of math, including mathematicians. This book includes brief biographies of 30 women mathematicians throughout history who have defied the harsh barriers put up against them in the math world and built successful and influential careers in mathematics. I especially enjoyed the first section which focused on many of the women pioneers of math, all of whom figured out vital formulas and/or theories that are now basis for higher level concepts. The second section focused on women who helped in the Space Race by using their math and computer expertise, while the third focused on modern day women who have continued to break barriers. There is a huge amount of diversity in this book as well, making it all the more inspiring to a wider audience of younger (and even some older readers).
That being said it was definitely geared towards readers who are already interested in STEM and understand some more advanced concepts, but who may not be sure if they can do anything with their passion once they graduate high school. For those of us who aren’t STEM-inclined, it’s still an inspiring and interesting read, but might be a bit of skim-read in sections where the math explanations come into play. It could have been made even more accessible had a glossary been included (there still may be, seeing as I read an advanced copy), to clarify many of the concepts and terms casually mentioned throughout.
It definitely made me more interested to learn more about some of the pioneers in the math field, those who came up with vital formulas and proofs that are still used as bases for concepts today. The formatting of the book is also very visually pleasing and the biographies are incredibly informative, but they aren’t overly long (most are about 3-4 pages). The bibliography is also very extensive.
I felt it was still too technical in its terminology of explaining many of the theories for it to be widely appealing to both math and non-math minded individuals. However, I would definitely still recommend it as a good book for those who are of the former, especially those who are interested in history as well!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!
(Cross posted on my blog.)
June 23, 2019
This is an interesting book of vignettes of brilliant women mathematicians beginning with some of what the author calls "Pioneers" in the field, one of whom was one of the foremost female thinkers of her time, Hypatia - a Hellenistic philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria and died (killed) in 415 AD. During Hypatia's time it was unheard of and some thought heretical for a woman to be in public making scientific or mathematical declarations. Because of this disfavor, author stresses, that there were probably more women who went about their studies in private so there are few records of their achievements. It isn't until the 17th century that we have a French woman, Marie Crous, publishing her studies on the decimal numerical system.
The book then goes on to discuss the accomplishments of selected women mathematicians over the course of the centuries to modern day women who were and are able to receive an advanced education and freely investigate and discover new ideas and applications in their field. The second section in the book discusses women who were able to contribute their talents to code breaking, computers, and rocket science; and the last section of the book focuses on the "modern day mathematicians" who are able to forge ahead from the building base that earlier women in the field had created. These women are able to achieve their dreams and are also acting as mentors to other women, especially minority black women and ethnic minorities, to see their goals achieved.
I don't pretend to understand the math and science concepts that these women studied or those the author explained in the book along the way. What became important to observe was that these brilliant, driven women, despite prejudices and doubts in this male dominated field, studied hard, persevered, had great self-confidence and never gave up. Many were also fortunate that, despite some having hardships in their youth, they had the encouragement and support of their parents, teachers, and mentors who recognized the spark and talents they had. They are also intent on "passing it forward" in seeing that opportunities are also provided to the next generation of female
students. An up-lifting point of view!
The book then goes on to discuss the accomplishments of selected women mathematicians over the course of the centuries to modern day women who were and are able to receive an advanced education and freely investigate and discover new ideas and applications in their field. The second section in the book discusses women who were able to contribute their talents to code breaking, computers, and rocket science; and the last section of the book focuses on the "modern day mathematicians" who are able to forge ahead from the building base that earlier women in the field had created. These women are able to achieve their dreams and are also acting as mentors to other women, especially minority black women and ethnic minorities, to see their goals achieved.
I don't pretend to understand the math and science concepts that these women studied or those the author explained in the book along the way. What became important to observe was that these brilliant, driven women, despite prejudices and doubts in this male dominated field, studied hard, persevered, had great self-confidence and never gave up. Many were also fortunate that, despite some having hardships in their youth, they had the encouragement and support of their parents, teachers, and mentors who recognized the spark and talents they had. They are also intent on "passing it forward" in seeing that opportunities are also provided to the next generation of female
students. An up-lifting point of view!
April 21, 2018
Power in Numbers is a book on the history of mathematics done by predominantly modern women written by the first tenured black woman at Harvey Mudd College. The majority of women included are modern, having about 5 historical women, including Emmy Noether and Sophia Kovalevskaya, followed by 20 something modern women, like the women from Hidden Figures and Maryam Mirzakhani. There are some notable omissions of historical female mathematicians, such as Mary Somerville and the Countess Lovelace, which seemed glaring due to the already small number of historical females. The book also had these less formal pages at the beginning of each section that gave very short, almost unsatisfying descriptions of some mathematicians like Hypatia and Emilie du Chatelet. Additionally, some of the modern women seemed to have done very little in actual mathematics, being simply career women in mathematics-related fields rather than researchers, or women who studied how to encourage girls to do STEM. That said, some, like Daina Taimina who created the first standing hyperbolic plane model, were rather interesting, underrated women were included. The writing in this was rather uneven, with some strong sections and others that read like the author biography flap, which may have contributed to making those women seem irrelevant. Another big issue was the simplification of the math, which wasn't done too well, thus creating problems in actually specifying the women's accomplishments, diminishing some of this book's power when compared to its counterparts that talk about female scientists. A big positive in this book was the wealth of sources at the back that provided further reading for each mathematician that provide more comprehensive histories for some of the women.
A copy of this book was given to the reviewer through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was given to the reviewer through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 23, 2021
I wish it went deeper on the actual science they contributed. For example, for Sofia Kovalevskaya it said "she published an article on crystals" ehhh sure but what about it was cool/intriguing. I would have valued more a deep dive into what she contributed to science that just a superficial bio on "She was born here, married x, studied here, published a, b, and c the end.
Would recommend this for folks that just want to know superficial details and to dig more later.
Would recommend this for folks that just want to know superficial details and to dig more later.
December 16, 2021
An excellent compilation of important women in science and math throughout history, with an emphasis on the US space program. This is a wonderful reference book for a middle school library. Although I knew of some of the women, others were new to me. Sadly, hardly any of them are as "famous" as their work deserves
February 23, 2022
I can't say I 100% enjoyed reading about people who ruined my high school life with numbers.
But as a book about women in mathematics, this book definitely serves its purpose and gives certain women their recognition they deserve. It's good that the book is not too technical - so you aren't expected to actually know and understand how gravity was defined etc.
But as a book about women in mathematics, this book definitely serves its purpose and gives certain women their recognition they deserve. It's good that the book is not too technical - so you aren't expected to actually know and understand how gravity was defined etc.
December 18, 2018
I purchased this book as part of the mathematical library for the new Junior High that is opening next year—it is amazing! So many influential and pioneering women who made wonderful mathematical contributions against the odds of gender discrimination!
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
June 19, 2020
I really liked this book. I learned a lot about mathematicians that I had never heard of. Inspiring stories--I would like to read it aloud to my math students this year. Technical in some spots, but mostly understandable for the lay person.
January 19, 2022
I got to meet Dr Williams while my husband was on sabbatical at Harvey Mudd. Her passion to see greater representation of women in general and women of color represented in math is clear in this wonderful book.
April 30, 2019
I just read this in one day. Completely fascinating stuff, and the fact that the women are a diverse bunch is a big plus. I hope there’ll be more editions as time goes on.
February 22, 2021
This has sort of the feel of a coffee-table book or a series of magazine articles (lots of color photos).
Read
March 29, 2023This was a very interesting book
February 18, 2024
Interesting and inspiring, but lots of explanations were very technical which made it difficult to follow as I am NOT a mathematician. :p
March 21, 2025
I loved what this book wanted to be, but I wish it went more in depth about its figures.
September 14, 2025
Such an inspiring book, I love it! 😍
July 6, 2020
In the vein of Hidden Figures. Well written, engaging nonfiction. Recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of women in STEM.
April 16, 2025
I highly recommend!! I read this as a bedtime story for myself. Poetry and math. 10/10 🟰#️⃣☝️
May 30, 2018
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics by Tabitha Williams is a full-color, non fiction book that takes a look at the forgotten influence of women in the development of mathematics over the last two thousand years. The book is divided in three parts: I - The Pioneers, II - From Code Breaking to Rocket Science and III - Modern Math Mavens, detailing the careers and achievements of thirty women scientists, with brief mentions of few others. The book brings mathematic powerhouses like astronomer-philosopher Hypatia, theoretical physicist Emmy Noether, and rocket scientist Annie Easley to life for readers and helps us understand that trailblazing women have always existed, we just do not always know their stories unless we take the time to discover them.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is a wonderful and long overdue book. I thought I knew a great deal about the women that have helped shape the world of technology, science, and mathematics. However, this book showed me that I only knew a small number of the women that made such huge impacts on the world. I learned about some women I had never heard of, and learned more about some that I though I knew much more about. Anyone that thinks they cannot make an impact, or that a particular field is not for them because of prejudice or culture, I urge you to read the book. The pictures included with the text about these dynamic women make them more real, and helps the reader connect with them and relate their own lives to those of these women- giving them the inspiration to forge their own path.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is an inspirational and informative book. I hope that it encourages others to follow their dreams, and to do the work they love regardless of what society and culture might tell them.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is a wonderful and long overdue book. I thought I knew a great deal about the women that have helped shape the world of technology, science, and mathematics. However, this book showed me that I only knew a small number of the women that made such huge impacts on the world. I learned about some women I had never heard of, and learned more about some that I though I knew much more about. Anyone that thinks they cannot make an impact, or that a particular field is not for them because of prejudice or culture, I urge you to read the book. The pictures included with the text about these dynamic women make them more real, and helps the reader connect with them and relate their own lives to those of these women- giving them the inspiration to forge their own path.
Power in Numbers: The Rebel Women of Mathematics is an inspirational and informative book. I hope that it encourages others to follow their dreams, and to do the work they love regardless of what society and culture might tell them.
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