Women In Science

“Gornick&;s portraits demonstrate the driving force behind science.&;—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Women in science stir the contemporary imagination. In their hyphenated identity is captured the pain and excitement of a culture struggling to mature.&;—The Washington Post

In this newly revised twenty-fifth anniversary edition, acclaimed writer and journalist Vivian Gornick interviews famous and lesser-known scientists, compares their experiences then and now, and shows that, although not much has changed in the world of science, what is different is women&;s expectations that they can and will succeed.

Everything from the disparaging comments by Harvard&;s then-president to government reports and media coverage has focused on the ways in which women supposedly can&;t do science. Gornick&;s original interviews show how deep and severe discrimination against women was back then in all scientific fields. Her new interviews, with some of the same women she spoke to twenty-five years ago, provide a fresh description of the hard times and great successes these women have experienced.