Sprague Library Exhibits

Known in her day as the 'Enchantress of Numbers,' Ada Lovelace was one of the most fascinating women of the 19th century. She rubbed elbows with many of the brightest scientific lights of her day, including the brilliant experimentalists Michael Faraday and Andrew Crosse - arguably the model for Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein. She was the protege of the 'Queen of Nineteenth-Century Science,' Mary Somerville. And, with mathematician Charles Babbage, inventor of the Analytical Engine - the mechanical 'thinking machine"'that anticipated the modern computer by more than a century - she developed a set of instructions for mechanically calculating Bernoulli numbers, in effect, creating the first computer program.

The phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA at the leading edge of the feminist and civil rights movement, whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space--a powerful, revelatory contribution that is as essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in modern America as Between the World and Me and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

OC They looked at us like we were not supposed to be scientists, OCO says one young African American girl, describing one openly hostile reaction she encountered in the classroom. In this significant study, Sandra Hanson explains that although many young minority girls are interested in science, the racism and sexism in the field discourage them from pursuing it after high school. Those girls that remain highly motivated to continue studying science must OC swim against the tide.OCO Hanson examines the experiences of African American girls in science education using multiple methods of quantitative and qualitative research, including a web survey and vignette techniques. She understands the complex interaction between race and gender in the science domain and, using a multicultural and feminist framework of analysis, addresses the role of agency and resistance that encourages and sustains interest in science in African American families and communities.

A contemporary study of Western views on women scientists from 1700 to the present and how the extraordinary accomplishments of these women helped change those views. Women and Science: Social Impact and Interaction looks at the complex relationship between science, women, and society as it has evolved from the late 1600s to the present. As the story unfolds, readers meet a number of extraordinary women who crashed the "men's club" of science, from Maria Merian, a 17th century pioneer in the study of metamorphosis to Barbara McClintock, 1984 Nobel prize winner for work that had been dismissed 30 years earlier. More than a series of biographical sketches, this book is an insightful look at how some highly accomplished women overcame preconceived notions about their capabilities and their "proper place" and succeeded in contributing extensively to, and at times contesting, modern science. * Brief biographies of some of the most accomplished women scientists in history, from Maria Merian and Margaret Cavendish to Ruth Hubbard * Primary documents written by women scientists, including reflections of their work and personal lives and discussion of the challenges women scientists have faced

Mary Joy Breton provides absorbing sketches of over forty women activists in the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, and Asia, recounting the special ways in which each stepped out of her traditional role and dedicated her life to saving the planet.

"Soundings is an eloquent testament both to Tharp's importance and to Felt's powers of imagination."--The New York Times Book Review Before Marie Tharp's groundbreaking work in the 1950s, the ocean floor was a mystery--then, as now, we knew less about the bottom of the sea than we did about outer space. In a time when women were held back by the casually sexist atmosphere of mid-twentieth-century academia--a time when trained geologists and scientists like Tharp were routinely relegated to the role of secretary or assistant--Tharp's work would completely change the world's understanding of our planet's evolution. By transforming dry data into beautifully detailed maps that laid the groundwork for proving the then controversial theory of continental drift, Tharp, along with her lifelong partner in science, Bruce Heezen, upended scientific consensus and ushered in a new era in geology and oceanography. "A playful, wildly thoughtful writer" (Oprah.com), Hali Felt vividly captures the romance of scientific discovery and brings to life this "strong-willed woman living according to her own rules, defying the constraints of her time" (The Washington Post).

The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the American women who secretly served as codebreakers during World War II--a "prodigiously researched and engrossing" (New York Times) book that "shines a light on a hidden chapter of American history" (Denver Post). Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.