Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World Reviews

• 
  Clumsy Storyteller

  A Feminist's holy Bible. Thank you for this great short book Rachel. As a Scientist my teacher talked a lot about Rosalind Franklin, and how her data was key to the double helix model. But she was never credited for her work, And i'm glad that the truth got out, and everyone now knows that it was a team work, Not just Watson and Crick. my teacher also talked a lot about Barbara mCclintock, and how she was treated and isolated but she made a major breakthrough when she discovered transposition and used it to demonstrate that genes are responsible for changing corn's color (phenotype). i learned about the rest of these strong, successful women from this book.
• 
  Miri

  The premise of this book is basically the best. It was written in response to Yvonne Brill's obituary in the New York Times in March 2013, which honored her not for being an actual rocket scientist, but for her "mean beef stroganoff." After the public outcry, the Times amended the obituary—which, along with this book, is the perfect example of how social media can be worthwhile. This absurd thing happened, and even though it's been happening for decades and centuries, the fact that we're all connected online means that now we can do something about it. Women said "excuse us, this is stupid," and the newspaper changed what it printed. Rachel Swaby said "excuse me, this is stupid," and wrote this book about all the women we didn't know because that same stupid thing probably happened to them.
  
  There are women in medicine, genetics, engineering, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and biology. There are inventors and environmentalists. There are the names we already know—Sally Ride, Rachel Carson, Hedy Lamarr, Ada Lovelace, Florence Nightingale—but mostly there are names I'd never heard of. Inge Lehmann discovered Earth's inner core; Annie Jump Cannon classified hundreds of thousands of stars; Helen Taussig revolutionized heart surgery. Alice Ball was a black woman in her early twenties who found a way to treat leprosy. Chien-Shiung Wu disproved what had been thought to be a fundamental law of physics. Each of these women gets only three or four pages, but their determination, intelligence, and significant contributions are conveyed clearly. Most of them sound like people I would love to have known personally (like Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, who hung from the rafters to see Enrico Fermi speak when she was in college).
  
  This is a book that should be studied in schools. The information is concise, and their careers are summarized with a sense for their overall impact on their fields. Nowhere else do you see so clearly how women have been ignored and excluded from STEM history, but this book draws attention to and rights that wrong all at once.
• 
  Kevin McAllister

  While there's no doubt that all 52 of the amazing woman covered in this book are more than deserving of recognition (I've never heard of most of them) there is the matter of quality over quantity. Each of these woman's achievements we're covered in about two or three pages and they all left me wanting more. I couldn't help but feel this book would have been a more enjoyable reading experience if the author had narrowed down the selection to a round number, of lets say 10. And then dedicated more time to flesh out and further discuss how they were able to change science and the world deposit all the obstacles placed in their way.
• 
  Jason Koivu

  After recently reading a book with a very similar scope, but made for kids, I wanted something a little more adult on the subject of women in the STEM fields. This fit the bill. Swaby's book is a primer for the topic with which to discover some of the lesser-known but very important women of the world, and a great jumping-off point from which to learn more elsewhere. Because of Headstrong I'm going to seek out full bios of some of these fascinating people.
• 
  Karissa

  
  I got this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This book goes through quick profiles of 52 women who had large contributions to science. The women are divided into different areas of science by the science they contributed to (physics, math, earth and stars, medicine, etc).
  
  This is a decent book. My biggest complaints are that the sections on each woman are so brief that just as you are getting interesting in that woman the section ends. It only gives you a very brief look into their lives.
  
  Also the sections are a bit sloppy...some start at the beginning of the woman's life, some at the end. It would have been nice to have a bit more format to each section.
  
  Additionally I would have loved to see a few pictures in here. Of the women themselves or of the work they did...this would have really enhanced this book quite a bit. As is the book is a bit dry and it’s hard to engage in.
  
  Overall it's a good book but not a great book. I enjoyed learning about these fascinating women but wish the sections had been more consistent, had some pictures, and had a bit more detail. There aren't a lot of books available give an overview of women in science, so it was nice to see this one come out. I would recommend if you are interested in learning more about influential women in science.
• 
  Biblio Files (takingadayoff)

  Can you name any women scientists? Okay, Marie Curie, that's good. Anyone else? While I might have been able to come up with a few (Rosalind Franklin, Irene Joliot-Curie), the names wouldn't spring to mind as easily as I would like. Now that I've read Headstrong, I'll have no trouble coming up with a dozen or more off the top of my head. The best way to remember things is to connect a story to it. Here are 52 short stories of a few pages each, and you'll definitely remember at least a few of them.
  
  Author Rachel Swaby summarizes the accomplishments of each of these women and tells something of the challenges they overcame or how they became scientists. A common thread is the quirky nature of most of the women. They seemed to care less than most of us about what others thought of them. They didn't do as they were told and charged ahead, swatting aside obstacles. Headstrong, indeed.
  
  While I enjoyed reading these thumbnail biographies, I found Swaby's informal style a tiny bit odd at times: "...MIT put the kibosh on her progress." "...made sure Heezen, who was tenured, had a wicked hard time carrying out his work."
  
  For anyone who wants more information than the quick bios here, Swaby has provided a bibliography for each scientist. Since she only has room here to scratch the surface, she has thoughtfully pointed us in the right direction to find out more about these fascinating women.
• 
  Amani Abusoboh

  قراءة هذا الكتاب سببت لي حالة من الجوع لقراءة ومعرفة المزيد عن كل امرأة ذُكرت في هذا الكتاب؛ عن انجازاتها والعراقيل التي واجهتها وكيف تغلبت عليها وغيرت في العالم كل في مجال اختصاصها.
  
  هناك العديد من الأسماء التي لم أسمع بها من قبل والتي وفر لي
  هذا الكتاب فرصة التعرف إليها.
  
  هناك عوامل مشتركة جمعت تلك النساء وهي الإبداع والتميز، العنصرية والتمييز ضدهن كنساء سواء من حيث المساواة في الحق بالتعليم، العمل، الأجور، والاعتراف بمساهماتهن العلمية. لكن أيضاً فإن هذه المجموعة من النساء يجمعهن روح المثابرة والتصدي لكل أشكال التمييز ضدهن من خلال أعمالهن الرائدة التي شكلت الأساس للعديد من العلوم التي تقوم عليها الحياة البشرية الآن.
• 
  هَنَادِيِ أَبُوسَيفْ HMA

  #اليوم_العالمي_للمرأة 🧕🏻💐
  فضلت أن أختم فيه قراءة هذا الكتاب المحبب لي كامرأة تكافح في كل يوم ، كتاب أعطاني جراعات من الأمل والتحفيز على مدى شهور ، فضلت فيه قرأته ببطء و تلذذ.
  يسرد الكتاب سيرة وجيزة لنساء مكافحات، شجاعات و عنيدات للوصول لهدفهن و اتباع شغفهن حتى النهاية ، لم تمنعهن الظروف و لا الفقر ولا التمييز بين الجنسيين في القرن العشرين ( في الدول الأجنبية) ولا حتى العمل لسنوات بدون مقابل مادي ، حققت جُلهمن ما يطمحن إليه بالعمل والإجتهاد و الصبر ، شاركن في كل المجالات ، طورن النظريات و العلوم و الإختراعات وغيرها.
  حصلت مجموعة كبيرة منهم على جائزة نوبل ، كُل واحدة في تخصصها.
  هنا عالمات القرن العشرين في : علم الطب ،علم الأحياء و البيئة ،
  علم الوراثة وعلم الأحياء النمائي ، علم الفيزياء والكيمياء،
  علم الأرض والنجوم، علم الريياضيات والتكنولوجيا و الاختراع.
  هنا يكمن التحفيز لكي تناضلي من أجل هدفك عزيزتي المرأة. 💜🧕🏻✌🏻
• 
  Amanda

  I'd probably knock off half a star for some of the writers literary choices (I swear, there was a line that was like, "He made her career there wicked hard", and a lot of time the tone dropped into slang, which isn't a bad choice on it's own, but it didn't fit the tone of the rest of the book), but to be honest, I have pretty low standards when it comes to books about women in science.
  
  You know, because it's freaking hard to find them, and when you do, it's even harder to find books about women in science that aren't like "Look at this one woman, who is special, and not like other women, so she could do math and science!"
  So, basically, I'd be hard pressed to rate this book anything other than five stars. To be fair, this is a pretty decent book. It's very hard to fit any of the accomplishments of any of the women selected into three to five pages, and sometimes clarity suffers. Because each chapter generally covers a different time period (but not always) part of the synopsis always ended up being dedicated to the challenges of the time, which could get repetitive if you had three women from roughly the same time period in a row.
  
  I'm hoping this book does well enough that we get a second one done, with women who are currently alive. Also, I want a mixture those two books, redone as a children's book.
• 
  Amina

  This book is about 52 women who did have an impact on our lives, and what saddened me is that I didn't know the majority of them..
  Few pages for mini biographies, the idea is awesome, some readers said the author should have narrowed the number to 10 or less and spoke more of these ten, but no, I love the fact that 52 women were mentionned, you get to know a little about them, their fights, struggles and passion, this will tease your curiosity to find out more, leading you to more books and a whole new load of information and inspiration :)
• 
  Kristina

  This lovely little collection does a fantastic job of providing brief, comprehensive summaries of brilliant female scientists, many of whom are virtually unknown. These admirable ladies are grouped by their scientific specialties and each is lauded for her accomplishments as well as her quirks and originality. Overall, Headstrong is an inspiring book that provides a wonderful starting point for exploring the lives of women who have shaped scientific history (mostly anonymously) for four centuries.
• 
  Andi

  Rachel Swaby has written brief biographies of 52 amazing women. While no biography is more than 5 or 6 pages, it is just enough information and background to bring these women out of the shadows and peak my curiosity to find out more about their backgrounds and achievements with further research and reading.
  
  The only thing that I didn't like about this book is that there exists a need for a book such as this. I have read about many of the men mentioned in this book (mostly in the Physics section) but not many of the women were ever mentioned alongside those men, and that is a serious problem. To read about so many women who had credit stolen from them by their male colleagues or who were refused education and or pay for their work is infuriating.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Brandice

  I'll start by saying my science knowledge and background is limited. Headstrong provided an easy-to-read, brief overview of 52 women who contributed to science in one way or another. I had heard of some of the women before but there were many I had not.
  
  The book is divided into sections: Medicine, Biology and the Environment, Genetics and Development, Physics, Earth and Stars, Math and Technology, and Invention. I personally found the invention and biology sections to be most interesting, but as with any book that covers multiple topics, this likely varies from person to person.
  
  It was disappointing, although no big secret, to read how often the women were dismissed strictly on the basis of gender. Their scientific contributions were frequently downplayed or accredited to men, and many were not rightfully recognized until after they'd died. Some of these women were denied titles, offices, and raises (or any pay in a few instances) at research universities or did not receive proper acceptance as students. Good thing women, as always, continued to persevere anyway :)
  
  I read a few reviews prior to reading Headstrong myself, where readers shared they felt the profiles were too short, and just as they were getting into it, the profile would end. I agree with this, in some instances but also acknowledge 52 is not a small number. Headstrong is good for providing a brief overview and could also serve as a decent source for identifying what scientific subjects you'd want to learn more about - then selecting other books to delve into said subjects further.
• 
  Eng.Roudha

  ‏‎#عنيدات إيجابيات، الأخيرة صفة خطرت في بالي وأنا أقرأ سير ذاتية مختصرة عن 52 امرأة تركن بصمة بارزة في مجالات علمية مهمة، وكيف تجاوزن الصعوبات التي واجهتهن.
  -شكرا للروائية الجميلة ‎#لميس_بن_حافظ.
  -الترجمة جيدة ومجال البحث والقراءة واسع لمن يريد.
  -أكثر العنيدات دهشة بالنسبة لي:
  -فيرجينيا آبغار-علم الطب
  -أليس هاميلتون-علم الأحياء والبيئة
  -باربرا مكلينتوك-علم الوراثة
  -شين-شيونغ وو-علم الفيزياء
  -سالي رايد-الأرض والنجوم
  -صوفي كواليفسكي-الرياضيات والتكنولوجيا
  -روث بينيريتو-الاختراع
  03-11-2018
• 
  Brenda Hoffman

  I just started reading the ARC, and it is written very well. In the first hour, I have already read three chapters, and find myself researching more about these women of science. There are some universal themes that emerge about determination, skill, and collaboration. I could see this book on library shelves or having students research further.
• 
  Pink

  Yes, yes, yes. More like this please. Short bios about women in science. Only a page or two each, but they give you just enough information. Some women I'd heard of, some I hadn't. Some it's made me want to learn more about. My overwhelming conclusion was that many really great women have really been shit on by men in the past. Here's to moving forward together.
• 
  Crazytourists_books

  Wow! 52 amazing, extraordinary women that not only did they change science (and the world) but also cleared the path for the generations that followed. Some of them I knew, some of them I didn't, but they all are role models to look up to, no matter your professional or life aspirations.
• 
  Youmna Fathy

  الكتاب لطيف ومفيد عرفت منه ناس كتير مكنتش اعرفهم وده كان هدف الكتاب
  هو بيتكلم عن ٥٢ عالمة اثرت في التاريخ في مجالات مختلفة منهم اللي متذكرش اسمهم في ابحاث ومنهم اللي مكنش حد مؤمن باللي بيعملوه
  فبجد عرفت ناس كتير مهمين 💖
• 
  Dov Zeller

  This is a wonderful little book, an introduction to 52 brilliant, driven scientists who fought great odds to do what they loved and get recognition for it. Some reviewers are critical of the fact that the literary quality is not consistently great and the pieces so short there is a "quantity over quality" problem. I can see where they are coming from. On the other hand, I find the book fascinating, edifying and very skillfully put together. I love hearing (listening to the audiobook) short piece after short piece in which the scientists' careers and to some degree life stories are compactly and richly rendered.
  
  The book is broken up into seven sections. Medicine, Biology and the Environment, Genetics and Development, Physics, Earth and Stars (disappointed Caroline Herschel isn't in here), Math and Technology, Invention and covers scientists who lived between the 1600s and the present.
  
  One thing I thought was interesting was the way each biography starts off with, under the scientists' name, their area of study and nationality. But several of the women are Jewish refugees during WWII and I wonder if they would identify themselves with their country of birth in such a brief and simple way. And I'm sure this issue comes up with others as well. (I haven't finished the book. Only about half way through. But so excited about it wanted to write at least a preliminary review.) Just got me thinking about the complications of identity as it relates to place and other cultural locations.
  
  Speaking of location and identity, I'm about to listen to the section about Lynn Margulis who is from the area where I'm currently residing. I believe she's most famous for her Gaia theory/theories of symbiosis.
• 
  Robin

  This is a great book. The introduction recommends reading one profile per week, for a full year of inspiration. I ate it up over the summer and I highly recommend it.
  
  Swaby's writing style is entertaining and informative. Each 3-4 page entry covers a scientist's major contribution to her field and gives a glimpse into her personality. The book is thematically arranged, with sections on medicine, genetics, the environment, physics, earth and stars, math, and invention, and organized chronologically within those, making it clear that women have been doing great science since forever.
  
  This is a fine jumping off point for further explorations, as it introduces some scientists you probably had not heard of before; it would be great for high school students starting a longer project, or kids who know they like science but aren't 100% clear what's out there for career options.
  
  This belongs in every middle and high school library and I am giving it to one of my favorite science-leaning kids.
• 
  Iset

  
  What a great read. I tore through this in under a day, and science isn't even an area of particular interest for me. The book illuminates many female scientists of history that I must shamefully admit I had never heard of (along with a decent scattering I recognised), going into their background, work, and what their contribution meant as part of the bigger picture. More than that, the book is eminently readable; each scientist gets a handful of pages, meaning it's easy to pick up, read a few pages and come to a point and then decide you probably have enough time to read the next entry, and the next...
• 
  Charlene

  So many wonderful women in science. I am thankful for Rachel Swaby for bringing them to society's awareness. I have heard better versions of some of these histories, but have never heard them compiled together in a book like this, which really highlights the accomplishments of women, despite all they had to overcome to force their way into education and the sciences. Further, even though I was aware of many women in the book, because I love the history of science, there were still some new biographies for me to enjoy.
  
  I often had to stop reading to reflect on how much they suffered and how hard they worked some that women today could get an education and have an easier time entering science related professions. The story of Mary Taussig was my favorite. Rejected by Harvard and other universities, she persevered only to change the face of medicine. Babies born with heart defects died. There was not a whole lot that could be done. But Taussig changed all that. She is my new hero.
  
  My favorite part of the book was the history of Harvard, thrown into many of the biographies, and how it worked so hard to keep women from entering universities, not just their university, but all universities. The way male experts in a position of power treated intelligent women is without question an important thing to understand and remember.
  
  So many wonderful women. A must read.
• 
  Caroline

  Unfortunate execution of a good idea. Too many people for one book, so superficial, so colloquial, so bad. If someone has a recommendation for a good book about women scientists I’d love to hear it; I’m also working on American Women Scientists: 23 Inspiring Biographies, which is better but a) limited to Americans, b) doesn’t include some women I’m interested in like Maria Mitchell, c) still aimed a bit to a younger audience. Interested more in physical sciences/math.
• 
  SahooraQ

  ينقسم إلى سبع أقسام هي:
  * علم الطب
  * علم الأحياء والبيئة
  * علم الوراثة
  * علم الفيزياء
  * الأرض والنجوم
  * الرياضيات والتكنولوجيا
  * الاختراع
  كل قسم منهم يحوي مجموعة من النساء اللاتي غيرن مجرى التاريخ والعلم بما حققنه في مجالهن..عن الصعوبات والتحديات التي واجهنه للوصول إلى مبتغاهن..وكيف سعينا من أجل العلم رغم الظروف الصعبة التي كنا فيها آن ذاك..
  كمية الإلهام بهذا الكتاب كبير جداً..لا مستحيل لتحقيق الأهداف طالما أن الفرد آمن بنفسه وقدراته وسعى لأجله..
  .
  كتاب مفيد لليافعات
  .
  .
  أعطي الكتاب 4.5
• 
  Dalila

  A good book that I think everyone should read , especially if you are a STEM student. I particularly liked the genetics and medicine sections. I learnt a lot. It was very accessible and well written. I like how the author introduces the book with a plan for the reader to read one section per week as it was deliberately split into 52 sections for a week per year.
• 
  Donia Yahia

  هذا الكتاب -على خفته- فهو ملهم جدا.. لطالما امنت أن النساء يمكنها أن تغير العالم بقوة تحملهن وجلدهن وتفانيهن وتلك القدرات التي وهبها الله لعقولهن الفذة
  اثار حزني ما فعلته الحربين العالميتين بتاريخ العلوم، كم عالم توقف عن عمله ورحل عن مختبره مخلفا خلفه ما كان من الممكن أن يقود العالم اليوم نحو الكثير
  ليت الحروب تتوقف، ليستمر العلم إلى الابد.. انا اؤمن بالعلم
• 
  Ana

  A chapter a day is to be administered before bed in order to fortify the feminist in everyone.
• 
  Lili

  A really interesting read, I love that it was easily accessible to people with little to no knowledge in the fields. I really enjoyed the medicine section as it’s not something I often read about.
  I would’ve preferred if it covered less people but went more in depth about them. I would’ve preferred if it didn’t condense each woman’s lives to only a couple of pages.
• 
  Erin

  How have I gone through life without knowing that Lord Byron's daughter was the first one to broach the idea of using algorithms for computing machines? I feel like a failure as a feminist and an English major.
  
  3.5 stars. I'll be honest - I didn't love Swaby's writing style. I found it overly slangy & sometimes confusing. That said, she exposed me to dozens of women I had no idea existed. I enjoyed learning about the women that discovered the Earth's Inner Core, started pediatric cardiology, disproved concepts that were considered to be fundamental laws of physics, created successful forms of treating leprosy, and more. What Swaby does well is create enthusiasm about the breadth of accomplishments of these women, and appreciation for how difficult it was for these women to overcome sexism, anti-Semitism, racism and poverty to rise to the levels they did. And while the brevity of the sketches sometimes left me wanting more, I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have attempted something with more depth, so I think I'm solidly in the target audience for a book like this (and not alone there).
  
  I would gladly hand this book to a teenager to expose them not only to female role models in the field, but also the diverse spheres of the sciences and mathematics that are available to them, and the creativity involved in the work (something I feel I lacked as a teenager).
• 
  LynnDee (LynnDee's Library)

  Science is not my forte whatsoever, so about 75% of the time I was like, "that sounds really cool, and I'm definitely impressed, but I still have no idea what it means". Either way, this is a great book to learn about female scientists from around the world and throughout history that have "changed science...and the world". A lot of them I had never heard of before, probably because they weren't given credit when credit was due, and they didn't really teach about famous female scientists (except for Marie Curie) when I was in elementary/middle school. This should definitely be required reading.