Category: Meet a Scientist (Page 2 of 10)

16 Pioneering Women in Science and Medicine

This week for STEM Friday we were inspired by a book, Magnificent Minds: 16 Pioneering Women in Science and Medicine by Pendred E. Noyce. It is a collection of biographies of women who made important discoveries in fields of STEM and health care.

Moving chronologically from the birth of midwife Louise Bourgeois Boursier in 1563 to the death of chemist and drug discoverer Gertrude Elion in 1999, the author has taken a novel look at the accomplishments of these women. For example, Florence Nightingale is known for her nursing skills, but Noyce suggests those skills were improved by Nightingale’s reliance on statistics and evidence-based research.

The book is organized into chapters that are separate biographies of each of the women. Because the chapters stand alone, readers can easily page to an individual subject of their choice. Also, at the beginning of each chapter is a well-researched timeline that gives details of not only that woman’s life, but also with significant events that occurred during her lifetime. For example, the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris and Bell’s invention of the telephone occurred during Sofia Kovalevskaya’s lifetime. The timelines help tremendously to add context.

Magnificent Minds will thrill those interested in history, particularly the history of STEM and medicine. It would also make a good choice for encouraging girls and young women to pursue STEM careers.

Related Activity:

Why highlight women scientists? Let’s take a quiz.

A. Do you recognize this woman who made important contributions to STEM? What was her contribution?

Ada_Lovelace_portrait(Public domain image from Wikimedia)

B. How about this woman? What was her field of expertise?

FlorenceMerriam1904(Public domain photograph retrieved at Wikimedia)

She was born in 1863.

C. Do you recognize the scientist below? She was born in 1902.

Barbara_McClintock_(1902-1992)(Acc. 90-105 – Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s, Smithsonian Institution Archives Persistent URL:Link to data base record Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives View more collections from the Smithsonian Institution.)

How did you do? Did you struggle to identify them? These women were groundbreakers with great passion for their subjects of study. People are now beginning to appreciate their unique contributions.

Answers:

A. Augusta Ada Byron, Countess Lovelace

Showing a talent for mathematics, Augusta Byron helped with and wrote about some of the early analytical machines that were precursors to computers. She was thought to have published the first computer algorithm. Her work was cut short by illness and her death at a young age. Her biography is featured in Magnificent Minds.

B. The second scientist is ornithologist and writer Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey.

Augusta Bailey is known for writing some of the earliest field guides to birds. She also campaigned against the widespread use of bird feathers in fashion. She is not covered in Magnificent Minds, but you can read more about her at this Women of Courage profile.

C. The last scientist is Nobel Prize winner, Barbara McClintock.

McClintock studied the genetics of corn and uncovered gene movement, or the so-called “jumping genes.” Her biography is also covered in the book and our previous post.

Additional Resources:

The National Academies as an interactive website about Women’s Adventures in Science.

Check our list of 21+ Children’s Books about Women Scientists at Science Books for Kids.

21-books-about-women-scientists-150x150

Age Range: 12 and up
Grade Level: 7 and up
Hardcover: 180 pages
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning, Inc. (March 1, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0989792471
ISBN-13: 978-0989792479

Disclosure: The books was provided electronically for review purposes. Also, I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

Come visit the STEM Friday blog each week to find more great Science, Technology, Engineering and Math books.

Super Women in Science Book Review

This week for Meet A Scientist Monday let’s take a look at a book that introduces us to ten women scientists.

Super Women in Science by Kelly Di Domenico contains the biographies of women scientists who made outstanding contributions to their fields of study. Starting with the tragic story of Hypatia, born in the year 355, through the first African-American woman in space, Mae Jemison, this book briefly summarizes the lives of women in the light of the times in which they lived. Each chapter summarizes the life of a single woman, listed in chronological order.super-women-in-science

Some of the women, like Rachel Carson, are household names. In other cases the author has chosen a less well-known scientist. For example, instead of a biography of primatologist Jane Goodall, Di Domenico introduces us to Birute Galdikas, a woman who studies orangutans in a similar ground-breaking way that Goodall studies chimpanzees. It is fun to learn about someone new.

Most of the women had to struggle against bias to continue working in science. For example, Maria Goeppert-Mayer won the Nobel Prize in 1963 for physics, but had to work as a volunteer because no university would hire her early in her career. Hearing the same setbacks due to gender bias again and again is a bit disheartening, but it does reflect the realities of the times.

Part of the high-quality Women’s Hall of Fame Series, this particular volume does have a few minor flaws. For example, in the second chapter on fossil-hunter Mary Anning, some of the scientific names are not properly capitalized. The list of sources in the back, however, are extremely helpful for children who get excited about the life of one of these women and want to find out more.

Super Women in Science is likely to be inspiring not only children interested in science, but also those interested in history. Although listed as a middle grade book, I think older children will also find it useful.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 102 pages
Publisher: Second Story Press (January 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1896764665
ISBN-13: 978-1896764665

nonfictionmonday

This post was prepared for Nonfiction Monday, a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. (I usually participate in this carnival at my Wrapped in Foil blog.) For more information, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s carnival is at Bookish Blather.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this older book for review.

Meet A Scientist Monday: Secret Life of Scientists

This week I’m going to do something a bit different for Meet a Scientist Monday.  I got an e-mail from Laura Willcox, Associate Producer for NOVA/PBS’ webseries “The Secret Life of Scientists.” She says:

Our series, and it’s accompanying blog, is committed to making scientists and their careers as well known as celebrities are in our culture. Like you, we aim to inspire and entertain by featuring some of today’s most dynamic living scientists and science stories. Check out our series here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/secretlife/.

…We are currently in the running to win a Webby Award (think the Emmys but for web content!) in the prestigious category of ‘Best Documentary Series.’ We are neck and neck with the reknown (sic) filmmaker David Lynch. We know winning this Webby would mean our series could reach scores and scores of aspiring scientists

We ask that you help us reach this goal by sharing the following link on your blog that will allow science fans to vote for our series: http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=documentaryseries.”

Now it is up to you. Take a look at the series. If you like it, consider helping them get publicity by voting. If you follow the link, it will ask you to register. Once you register, an e-mail will be sent to the address you provide. As a heads up, the link provided in the e-mail will take you to the Webby home page. To get back to the voting page, click on “OnLine Film and Video” in the tabs at the top, and then when all the options come up, look for “Documentary:  Series.”

I didn’t find a exact deadline for voting, but it looks the the awards are given out in the first part of June.

Scientists as celebrities? What do you think?

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