A biography of Alice Middleton Boring, a feisty, headstrong biologist who spent much of her adult life teaching in China during some of the most tumultuous times in the country's history. She found herself continually distracted from teaching her students and pursuing her own research by civil war, revolution, the Japanese occupation, World War II, including her internment and repatriation, and the subsequent upheaval which resulted in the creation of a socialist society. Throughout the turmoil, she continued to publish scientific papers, pragmatically changing her research emphasis from cytology and genetics to the taxonomy of Chinese reptiles and amphibians. In spite of her traumatic experiences, she remained deeply influenced by her time in China long after her return to America. Loyalty to the Chinese people and an almost evangelical appreciation of her adopted culture permeated the rest of her personal and professional life.

There is probably no woman scientist more famous than Marie Curie (1867-1934). She made one of the most important theoretical breakthroughs of the twentieth century when she postulated that radiation was an atomic rather than a chemical property, an important milestone in understanding the structure of matter. Not only did she coin the term radioactivity, but her painstaking research culminated in the isolation of two new elements, polonium and radium. For her achievements she won two Nobel Prizes, one in physics (in 1903) and the other in chemistry (in 1911). This informative, accessible, and concise biography looks at Marie Curie not just as a dedicated scientist but also as a complex woman with a sometimes-tumultuous personal life. This historian of science describes Curie's life and career, from her early years in Poland, where she was born Maria Sklodowska; through her marriage to and collaboration with Pierre Curie; her appointment as the first female professor at Sorbonne University after his untimely death; and the scientific work that led to her recognition by the Nobel Prize committee. The author also candidly discusses the controversy that surrounded Marie when detractors charged that her work was actually performed by her late husband. Finally, she describes Curie's work in founding the radium institutes to study radiation and in establishing mobile X-ray units during World War I. Eventually, her long exposure to radium led to her death from aplastic anemia in 1934. A year later, Albert Einstein published a tribute to her in memoriam, praising both her intuition and her tenacity under the most trying circumstances.
Ogilvie's appealing narrative brings the brilliant scientist and courageous woman to life in a story that will continue to inspire future scientists.

A first-rate ornithologist, Margaret Morse Nice (1883-1974) pioneered field studies on song sparrows and advocated for women's active role in the sciences. Yet her nontraditional path toward scientific progress, as well as her gender, meant that she had to reach the highest pinnacles of achievement in order to gain prominence in her chosen field. Luckily for Nice, she was more than up to the challenge. In this engaging first book-length biography, Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie sheds light on Nice's intellectual journey. The wife of an academic, Nice pursued her own scholarly interests through self-study and by cultivating and creating work partnerships with colleagues. Talented, ambitious, and creative, she did not define herself solely through her role as wife and mother, nor did her family responsibilities deter her from her professional achievements. From her undergraduate study at Mount Holyoke College to her fieldwork in Norman, Oklahoma, her coauthorship of Birds of Oklahoma and subsequent correspondence with George Sutton to her later years in Columbus, Ohio, Nice's career grew in tandem with her personal life - and in some cases, because of it. Although bridled by social constraints, her work spoke for itself: she produced more than 244 papers, articles, and published letters; seven books and book-length monographs; and 3,000 reviews. This voluminous and field-defining output earned her the respect of some of the most important biological scientists of the day, among them Konrad Lorenz and Ernst Mayr, who declared that she had ""almost singlehandedly"" initiated ""a new era in American ornithology."" For the Birds gives Nice her due recognition, lending compelling insight into her activism promoting conservation and preservation, her field methods, and the role of women in the history of science, particularly in ornithology. Nice's life acts as a looking glass into the various challenges faced by fellow female pioneers, their resolve, and their contributions.