Notable Women in the Life Sciences A Biographical Dictionary

Subjects:

• Science » Science (General)
• Science » Biology
• Women's Studies » Women's Studies (General)
• Women's Studies » Women in Business & Labor

Reviews:

• Biographical entries of 97 women who have made significant contributions to the life sciences from antiquity to the present... The nature and impact of each woman's work is put in lay terms so readers can understand its importance. Few readers will recognize any names other than Rachel Carson and Elizabeth Blackwell--all the more reason to have this book in one's collection. Although students may use it initially for reports, few will leave it without being hooked into reading about others who catch their interest. There are cancer researchers, physicians, ornithologists, environmentalists, horticulturalists, and more, all in one place, ready to inspire and educate YAs... Once teachers become familiar with this book, many worthwhile and diverse assignments could be based on the information it contains. Gender issues, historical period, and career opportunities are all possibilities not immediately obvious from the title. A little promotion could make this a popular resource.
  —School Library Journal
• The Shearers have prepared a dictionary to 97 women who have contributed to the life sciences (including medicine) from the ancient to the contemporary world.... [E]ach entry...is readily accessible and contains much more personal information than would be normally found in comparable volumes. Almost all of the entries comment on the particular difficulties associated with being a woman in science: exclusion, isolation, inability to combine a scientific career with marriage and a family, and lack of role models.
  —Choice
• Ninety-seven women scientists who have made significant contributions to the life sciences are covered here in substantive essays...No other reference book on women scientists has quite this focus or depth of information...The work notes the struggles these women faced in overcoming sexual discrimination and other problems such as family opposition or poverty and indicates why the reader should be interested in them. Well written and informative, this book will be helpful in high-school, public, and academic libraries where it will bolster collections in women's studies and scientific biography.
  —Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
• Students researching anatomy, biology, botany, cancer, ecology, pharmacology, physiology, zoology, and many other life science fields will find this volume valuable. Teachers encouraging young women to enter the field of science will use this volume as an example. The biographical information found in this volume is unique. Recommended.
  —The Book Report
• [Recommended for] those with interests in the history of science and to reader who wants to learn more about the role of women in science.
  —Plant Science Bulletin
• ....a good one volume reference...
  —Catholic Library World
• Readers looking for substantive biographies of women in the life sciences will find 97 well-written essays by 66 contributors in this book....Recommended....[F]or all science libraries or for libraries supporting women's studies programs.
  —Science and Technology Libraries
• ...highly readable.
  —Mills Quarterly
• The sixty-three practicing scientists and researchers who wrote the entries explain the lives of their subjects in clear prose aimed at a general readership.
  —Journal of Women's History

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Biographies
• Appendix I: Scientists by Fields
• Appendix II: Scientists by Awards Received
• Index