Stolen Science: Thirteen Untold Stories of Scientists and Inventors Almost Written out of History

by Ella Schwartz, Gaby D'Alessandro (Illustrator)

Overview

A fresh approach to a timely topic, Stolen Science is a fascinating compendium of stories of uncredited scientists and inventors throughout the ages.

Over the centuries, women, people from underrepresented communities, and immigrants overcame prejudices and social obstacles to make remarkable discoveries in science—but they weren't the ones to receive credit in history books. People with more power, money, and prestige were remembered as the inventor of the telephone, the scientists who decoded the structure of DNA, and the doctor who discovered the cause of yellow fever. This book aims to set the record straight and celebrate the nearly forgotten inventors and scientists who shaped our world today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547602285
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	08/31/2021
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	475,734
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

Ella Schwartz works as a cybersecurity specialist interfacing with the U.S. Federal Government on strategic technology initiatives. She holds a Department of Defense-issued top secret clearance to support her role. Ella is also the author of Can You Crack the Code, winner of the AAAS-Subaru Prize for Science Writing.
ellasbooks.com

Gaby D'Alessandro is a Dominican illustrator based in Brooklyn. Stolen Science is her first book.
gabydalessandro.com/

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Mary Anning 5

Jo Anderson 15

Antonio Meucci 23

Benjamin Bradley 33

Carlos Juan Finlay 39

Anna Wessels Williams 49

Nettie Stevens 57

Lise Meitner 65

Alice Ball 75

Hilde Mangold 81

Chien-Shiung Wu 89

Marie Tharp 97

Rosalind Franklin 105

Sources 111

Author's Note 116

Acknowledgments 120

Editorial Reviews

"A very important book that not only gives credit where it is long overdue but should also help inspire future scientists from all backgrounds." - Science Magazine, Finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books

“A useful counterweight to conventional books describing breakthroughs in science, medicine, and engineering.” —Booklist

“[A] thought-provoking exploration of an important topic.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A timely and informative resource.” —School Library Connection

From the Publisher

2021-06-16
Schwartz, a female scientist who has experienced discrimination, offers a brief survey of other scientists whose careers were also curtailed by bias.

Brief profiles of 13 scientists—nine women (one African American, one Chinese, and seven White) and four men (two enslaved African Americans, one an Italian immigrant, and one Cuban)—are arranged in chronologic order. The biographies each begin with a clever, complex drawing of the subject (the two slaves, for whom no archival pictures are extant, appear in silhouette) and conclude with a simple summary of the scientific principles that relate to that innovator’s field. In far too many cases, White male co-workers took credit for the subjects’ work, with the critical roles of the latter only recently receiving well-deserved recognition. It’s especially distressing that several of those co-workers even received Nobel Prizes for unattributed work. However, the information offered is very limited, sometimes glosses over critical nuances, and includes errors. For example, although this effort credits Italian immigrant Antonio Meucci with the invention of the telephone, many historians doubt his work was as refined as Alexander Graham Bell’s device, and Schwartz does not muster enough information to make a clear case for Meucci’s role. At other times, the summaries of related science are so simple as to end up inaccurate: An overview of nuclear physics states, “Atoms are also called elements.” An extensive reference list varies in quality.

A breezy, imperfect, but nonetheless thought-provoking exploration of an important topic. (author's note) (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews