I imagine that USAmericans would not like their own history and law misrepresented like this, so I would be grateful if this could be revised. A patent drawing for Margaret E. Knight's paper bag machine, 1871. / National Archives and Records Administration, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain I am not sure that some of the women were hugely influential in changing the world. But the fact that the earlier women are there because accident of birth or political marriage allowed them to achieve, such as Cleopatra and Catherine the Great, while the later are there because they were achievers in science or literature, such as Marie Curie or Virginia Woolf, is telling. After that we get women who achieved in physical ways such as flying, tennis or sailing. Even acting and singing. Leading countries, civil rights or peace movements is up there too.

Full of striking and fascinating infographics and diagrams, this book makes understanding these women’s accomplishments easy and enjoyable. Because most men were already on the front line, they had no choice but to recruit women. Thirty-nine women applied, leaving their families and everything they knew to become saboteurs in France. Mary Wollstonecraft is the mother of Mary Shelley, writer of Frankenstein. / Culture Club/Getty ImagesFrom Madame Curie who discovered radiation to Sally Ride, the first woman to go to space, this New York Times bestselling book shows that science is no man’s field. When her mother tragically died when Ginsburg was young, her mother’s intelligence inspired her feminism, and her intellect and drive took her to Cornell University. It was policy, and subsequently judicial interpretation, that held that women were not persons for the purpose of appointment to the Senate. We have women to thank for many of the biggest and best contributions to society—and these inspiring and influential female figures paved the way. Over the years, these trailblazers have worked tirelessly in their own ways to make the world a better place and shape the course of history, whether they were on the front lines of important protests, representing their country at the Olympics, or inspiring fellow women to speak their own minds. They have all brought their innovative beliefs and talents to life with dedication, passion, and plenty of hard work. The author talked about putting yourself first; love yourself. I strongly believe more women need to hear this. We do a lot without children, work, school, family, etc and it’s time we take time for ourselves.

As well as being a gorgeously illustrated and educational book, Women in Sciencehighlights the contributions of these incredible women. Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for his crimes, in addition to hundreds of years for charges at the state level. But in a 2017 piece penned for The Players’ Tribune, Raisman made it clear that punishing Nassar wasn’t enough. “We need to change the systems that embolden sexual abusers,” she wrote. “We must look at the organizations that protected Nassar for years and years: USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Michigan State University. Until we understand the flaws in their systems, we can’t be sure something like this won’t happen again.” Raisman made it her mission to enact change: In March 2018, she filed suit against USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee. “Thousands of young athletes continue to train and compete every day in this same broken system,” Raisman said in a statement. “I refuse to wait any longer for these organizations to do the right thing. It is my hope that the legal process will hold them accountable and enable the change that is so desperately needed.” EW: I am fond of books that preserve connections between people, whether immediate (dedication or inscribed) or distant (ownership, often separated by time and place, but linked through a common interest). We took any chance that we had to select copies along those lines, rather than typical copies of first editions.This no doubt takes us to some fine examples of the Suffragette Movement and feminist literature and magazines. Which of them stood out in particular? Commodore Grace M. Hopper photographed in 1984. / James S. Davis, United States Navy, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain She is known for her brave fight for equal pay, which lead her to become the director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project where she argued anti-sex discrimination cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The range of women were reasonable. This comes in the form of women of colour such as Mary Seacole and Benazir Bhutto, but also in their occupations. Politicians, fashion designers, entertainers, activists, scientists and athletes are included with equal respect.

EW: One of the best things about working on interdisciplinary catalogues like this is what you learn. I was familiar with Berners, Bradstreet, and Bochořáková-Dittrichová, but not with Bonhomme and Bryher. Plus, during your research you come across a whole host of new names – people who influenced them, people whom they influenced, people who could challenge them for the title of “first” in that field – and the wants list grows... an interpretation of the Canadian constitution that held that women could vote and be elected and appointed to various public offices but were considered not to be persons for the purpose of appointment to the Senate, since at the time the constitution was drafted, this possibility was not contemplated. The decision that Murphy and her colleagues won became the basis for interpreting the constitution to reflect changing social conditions and values.* Mary Puthisseril Verghese was just beginning her career in gynecology when she was injured in a car accident and paralyzed. While recovering, she switched medical disciplines and decided to focus on hand surgery, studying at the Christian Medical College, Vellore in her native India. Later, she traveled to Australia and New York to learn about the expanding field of rehabilitative medicine, an essential part of giving patients who have suffered major injuries the chance to regain independence—a journey she knew well. In 1966, Verghese founded the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Vellore, the first center of its kind in the country, and became India’s first specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. After her death in 1986, the facility she opened was renamed the Dr. Mary Verghese Institute of Rehabilitation in her honor. —OTW 122. Cheryl Marie Wade

History is not always what is seems—regardless of what even the most robust textbooks might say. Take, for example, the work of Rosalind Franklin: The British scientist whose 1952 research was integral to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, but who had her research swiped by male colleagues who announced their"discovery" to the world—and won a Nobel Prize for it—without giving Franklin any of the credit. Women have made a name for themselves as travel writers relatively early on. I like the fact that you have a broad range of travel journals from the four mountaineers in the late 19th century (18), "Emily in Paris" in the early 20th century (80) or the travels of three Edwardian women to East Asia (82) - each very different no doubt, but what did they have in common?