50 Women in Technology

As a woman who works in STEM, I was really looking forward to reading this book. It did not disappoint. A breakdown of the last 75 years of scientific advancement opened the book, sorted chronologically. Then It focused on women who were pioneers in technology, starting with Ada Lovelace. The last section was about modern women in technology, and was really interesting. Even as someone who works in STEM, I learned a lot and there are women I intend to look into further.

Celebrating trailblazers past and present, this book pays tribute to pioneering women in STEM fields. It profiles 25 historical innovators like Ada Lovelace while also featuring over 26 exclusive interviews with today's extraordinary women driving advancements in technology.

This book is engaging, informative, and easy to read. The interviews will be especially interesting for students interested in a STEM career.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Ines Almeida, Georgina Ferry, Bridget Greenwood, 50 Women in Technology Pioneers and Trailblazers in STEM, Aurora Metro Supernova Books, November 2023.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

As I have kindle download, I am unable to comment on the full colour nature of the book. However, I am pleased to be able to comment on the text of this most useful work. In particular, the combination of the stories of early women in technology, and those of today; discussion of unequal pay in the sciences; the excellent section on depiction of scientists in school studies and popular culture; and the writers’ experience imparts the information with heft as well as being accessible read.

More well-known names such as Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie, Hedy Lamarr are represented. However, they are joined by women who, although known in scientific circles have not entered popular culture about women in technology. Bridget Greenwood’s foreword sets out the purpose of this book – to enhance public knowledge of the women pioneers in technology. She suggests that the change that has been effected, is only a start, that more needs to be done to encourage women into technology and to keep them there. Quotations from uncorrected proofs cannot be included in reviews, so it is impossible to replicate some of the pithy and inspirational propositions included throughout the book – both from its editors and the women they to whom they give a voice. Suffice to say, they make an effective voice for these women.

Today’s women in technology, such as Emily Holmes (a psychologist working on mental imagery); Ida Tin, the CEO of Clue (a menstruation tracking app); Marita Cheng (Young Australian of the Year 2012); and Stephanie Willwerth who runs an interdisciplinary program at the University of Victoria, provide some wonderful interviews. Please note that these descriptions are brief and cannot convey the value of their work and discussion s of that work.

There are some fascinating photos – it is impossible to go past those of the mainframe computers from the 1950s even if they are familiar. Similarly, the Bletchley Park story is familiar – at least in its broad-brush strokes. Here there is detail, not only about the women’s work and their aptitude, but the fight to achieve anything like parity with men in occupations, wages and status. The book ends with a comprehensive index.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.
While it seems to be geared toward teen girls, I think almost anyone could benefit from reading this. You can get more out of this book by reading a bit at a time because there are so many discrete stories about individual women. Frankly, I would read a couple of stories and close the book because I was annoyed that once again the women who did just as much on a scientific project got zero credit.
However, this book doesn't stop there. Besides the women in history, there are stories about contemporary women who are important in scientific fields and making real changes.
Both the historical women and the contemporary women had brief biographies, but the contemporary women also answered questions about their lives, such as what they are proud of and whether they have any regrets.
Reading through some of their projects gave me hope for the world, as their quite brilliant minds are being applied to real world problems that concern me.

Awesome inspiration to read about women in technology, science and astronomy of past and present. I enjoyed reading the stories and interviews which represented great achievements of women in different industries, research and innovation fields. This book can teach curiosity and believing in yourself, working through milestones and celebrating wins.