Reading List: Women in STEM

As many know, people are making way for women in STEM fields – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematisc – especially at academic institutions like Mount Holyoke across the way! Have an inventive and inquisitive mind but want to hear an alternative narrative while still reading about a more analytic world? Check out these books about women in, around, writing about and doing science — and can be enjoyed regardless of gender. Each title links to their Goodreads page, including a synopsis plus reader reviews and ratings!

1. Delusions of Gender
Cornelia Fine

2. Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions
Lisa Randall

3. Black Women Scientists in the United States
Wini Warren

4. Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan,
American’s First Female Rocket Scientist
George D. Morgan

5. Blazing The Trail: Essays by Leading Women in Science
Emma Ideal & Rhiannon Meharchand

6. The Poisoner’s Handbook:
Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Deborah Blum

7. Madame Curie: A Biography
Eve Curie

8. Beating Back The Devil:
On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service
Maryn McKenna

9. She’s Such A Geek!:
Women Write About Science, Technology, and other Nerdy Stuff
Annalee Newitz & Charlie Jane Anders

10. And if you are interested in Bioethics, I strongly recommend checking out The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. You may know her as “HeLa,” and her cervical cancer cells were harvested and used without her permission — and continue to be used today — but have also lead the way for numerous answers, medications, and cures. This novel explores the history of medical testing and it’s relationship with racism/sexism in the United States. Content may be upsetting.