#1: Biographies: Headstrong, 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

Quests in Humanities

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

I didn't finish the whole book, but I did read through 19 of the 52.


It's a compilation of mini-biographies which are just as fascinating and exciting as they are frustrating - how many times have women been written over, or simply overlooked in history? Their names forgotten in the discovery or invention in favor of the man who discovered her? I'm glad to live today in this time. Although I'm sure this still happens today, I'm sure it happens a lot less than it used to. For that, I'm very thankful, and was able to simmer down.

This book is now on my list of books to buy. A great collection of inspirational women to remind myself of what I could be capable if I put my mind to it - and a supplement to the history and science textbooks if I have children of my own some day.

Here are some samples of the women I read about this month, in honor of Women's History Month:

Anna Wessels Williams (1863-1954) was a bacteriologist who helped develop the Park-Williams 8 (now known as "Park 8" due to the ease of saying something with fewer syllables) bacteria. This bacteria was the most important ingredient in making the diphtheria antitoxin producible on a mass scale - which then enabled the once nearly-epidemic disease to be brought under control. 

She was also the scientist who brought the rabies vaccine to the United States, and helped make the production of the vaccine a priority. She also did extensive studies on rabies - what it does to the body, how it behaves - as well as many other diseases and viruses. Below are the first and last pages of her chapter.

Helen Taussig (1898-1986) founded pediatric cardiology; helped develop the Blalock-Taussig Shunt technique, a heart surgery which saved the lives of many infants; helped the FDA discover and block medicines which cause birth defects; received the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and "amassed the most comprehensive catalog of congenital heart defects and their indicators ever compiled." All this with a sense of hearing which started failing at the age of 30. Below is the first page of her chapter:

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was instrumental in pioneering the field of entomology (the study of bugs, basically). At a time when most other scientist did not see the connection between caterpillar and butterfly, she diligently documented and drew each stage of the transformation process, metamorphosis. Below are the first and last pages of her chapter:

Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794-1871) invented the aquarium! 

She needed a way to study marine life, so she designed a glass box which could hold her specimen in, alive, while she learned about their habits and lives. Below is her entire chapter.

Hope you enjoyed the readings!

KJets