Women of Science: 100 Inspirational Lives

Women have played a vital role in scientific discovery, although at times their participation has gone unrecognised. Their scholarly research and discoveries have provided a rich tapestry to add to the scientific endeavours of the world. It is important that these women be viewed through the lens of their time, placing their achievements in context throughout the past few centuries. Their scientific fields of excellence include medicine, biology, astronomy, mathematics, physics, meteorology, geology, zoology and engineering, along with their various sub-categories. The significant contributions by women to science date from the earliest times and this book brings together the stories of those who have left their mark, despite the significant hurdles they have faced. There are many women who deserve recognition in this way, including the much vaunted Madame Curie and Ada Lovelace, and there are others whose talent is undoubted although they have not received the plaudits they deserve. This book considers the lives and work of talented women from different eras, countries and scientific fields.

John S. Croucher is a Professor of Management, Macquarie University, Sydney. He has published over 130 research papers and 30 books, and for 8 years was a television presenter on football. John holds 4 PhDs and in 2013 won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year. A fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Australian Mathematical Society, in 2015 John was made a Member of the Order of Australia for ’significant service to mathematical science in the field of statistics, as an academic, author and mentor and to professional organisations’.

Rosalind F. Croucher is President of the Australian Human Rights Commission and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Macquarie University. In 2011 she was recognized as one of the 40 ’inspirational alumni’ of UNSW, where she gained her PhD in legal history. In 2014 she was named as among the 100 most influential women in the country. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Australian Academy of Law, in 2015 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for ’significant service to the law as an academic, to legal reform and education, to professional development, and to the arts’.