Friday, May 05, 2017

Women of science and mathematics: a gallery of historical novels

Inspired by Kaite Welsh's The Wages of Sin, about a female medical student in 1890s Edinburgh, here are ten other historical novels about women who pursued achievements in the STEM fields while fighting gender discrimination and the strictures of their time. Some are new, one is forthcoming, and others are out of print and worth seeking out.

There are a number of other novels that fit this category, particularly those featuring female doctors, but depictions of women scientists in other fields are lacking in comparison -- there should be more!  Please leave your own recommendations in the comments. I'd searched for fiction about historical scientific women of color, a la Hidden Figures, which is a nonfiction book, but they seem few and far between; I'd be especially interested to know about titles that fit this description.



Physics:  The fictionalized story of Serbian scientist Mileva Marić, Albert Einstein's first wife, and her contributions to his early discoveries. Sourcebooks, 2016. [see on Goodreads]




Climatology/Glaciology:  Lucybelle Bledsoe, who spent many years as an editorial assistant at the Geological Society of America, also undertook a secret work assignment in the '50s. Her personal life, as a lesbian during the McCarthy years, was by necessity equally clandestine. University of Wisconsin Press, 2016. [see on Goodreads]



Astronomy: In the 18th century, Caroline Herschel, a German-born woman who served as her more famous brother William's assistant, was an accomplished astronomer in her own right, with a number of comet discoveries to her credit.  She lived to be 97.  Pantheon, January 2016. [see on Goodreads]



Paleontology: Chevalier's literary novel profiles Mary Anning, who made important discoveries of fossils around her home in Lyme Regis, England, but who was prohibited from joining the Geological Society due to her sex.  See also Joan Thomas' novel Curiosity for another perspective on Anning's life [see earlier review]. [See on Goodreads]



Math & Computer Science: The story of Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, who is credited as being a pioneer in computer programming. Dutton, November 2017. [see on Goodreads]



Chemistry: This first book in a historical mystery series features analytical chemist Libby Clark, who gets hired in 1942 to be a scientist for a top-secret project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Severn House, 2014.  [read earlier review] [see on Goodreads]



Botany: Gilbert's exuberant epic about personal and scientific discovery centers on Alma Whittaker, born with the 19th century, a young woman bursting with intellectual curiosity about the botanical world.  Viking, 2013.  [read earlier review] [see on Goodreads]



Medicine (Cardiology): The heroine of Rothman's novel is based on the first female physician in Canada in the late 19th century. Agnes White dares to study the field of cardiology at a time when few cures were available and she had few role models to emulate. Soho, 2011. [see earlier review] [see on Goodreads]



Mathematics: A mathematician herself, Spicci's debut novel follows the historical facts in the life of Sofya Kovalevskaya in mid-19th century St. Petersburg; she was the first European woman to receive a doctorate in mathematics.  Forge, 2002. [See on Goodreads]



Neuroscience & Medicine: Melodie Winawer's debut novel follows a modern American neurosurgeon who finds herself trapped 650 years in the past after she travels to Siena, Italy, to settle her late brother's estate and follows the research trail he left.  Touchstone, May 2017. [see on Goodreads]

17 comments:

  1. One that I'd highly recommend is Finding Emilie by Laurel Corona, about Emilie du Châtelet, mathematician and physicist in 18th century France.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion, Vicki! I'd read Finding Emilie a few years ago and enjoyed it very much. One of the best evocations of a person's full life that I can recall reading.

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    2. Yes, it was wonderful. Also, there was a mystery I read a few years ago, In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff, set in New York in the early 1900s. The murder victim is a mathematics student, and I found her story to be the best part of the book.

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    3. I'd forgotten that the victim was a math student - thanks for mentioning that. I read the book so long ago that the details are vague, other than that I thought the mystery itself was so-so. I haven't read the others, but maybe the series got better?

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    4. That's what I thought, too. I haven't read the others, either. I wonder if they got better.

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    5. It's too bad - if the first book had been better, I might have read another more quickly.

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  2. A new insight into stories about women. Very interesting list.

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  3. Great list, Sarah! I've read and enjoyed the Kaite Welsh and Tracy Chevalier novels. I'll be looking up some of the others now, too.

    One of my all-time favourites is Domina by Barbara Wood. It's about a Victorian girl born in poverty in England who becomes a doctor and moves to America.

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    1. Thanks for recommending Domina! I've read other novels by Barbara Wood, but not that one. I should have remembered her, since she often includes medical themes in her historical novels.

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  4. How about the literary genius who recognized the importance of smallpox inoculations being administered by the Turks -- in the 1710's? The books about her are:

    Halsband, Robert. The Life of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.

    Halsband, Robert (ed.). The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965-67:

    Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Oxford University Press, 2001.

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    1. I wonder if there are any novels with her as the main character - if not, she'd be a good candidate for one...

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  5. Goodness, novels about Ada Lovelace and Caroline Herschel! How wonderful! There was a play by Tom Stoppard, Arcadia, which features a young girl in the early 19th century who is a maths genius. She is inspired by Ada Lovelace.

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    1. I've been hearing about Caroline Herschel ever since the years I spent working at a planetarium - but I didn't know anything else about her life other than her discoveries. I've been wanting to read the Brown novel since it came out.

      The play Arcadia sounds familiar, but I don't know much about it - I'll check it out further. Thanks!

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  6. You could add The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill, a fictionalized version of the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell, and Lady of the Butterflies by Fiona Mountain about lepidopterist Eleanor Glanville

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    1. Two good suggestions, thanks!
      I'd forgotten about Lady of the Butterflies, which I always meant to get to... I've had a copy for ages. The Movement of Stars was a very good read.

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