Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century

Until relatively recently, chemistry was a career from which women were discouraged or excluded entirely. Therefore, in sieving through history for evidence of their contributions, Marelene and Geoffrey Rayner-Canham have had to dig very deeply indeed. For that reason, most of the names in this book (Laura Linton, Jane Marcet, Rachel Lloyd, for example) will be unfamiliar. It is amazing to me that the authors have been able to uncover so many stories of women who struggled to do science, despite the obstacles. They do an excellent job not only with the biographies, but also of describing the historical context in which they worked.