Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor profiles six amazing women who defied prejudice to succeed in the sciences using genius, ambition, and perseverance. Each of these pioneers refused to take no for an answer, pursuing their passions through fieldwork, observations, laboratories and research vessels in the face of sexism. Lawlor tells the stories of Eugenie Clark, an ichthyologist who swam with sharks; Marie Tharp, a cartographer who mapped the ocean floor; Katherine Coleman Johnson, a mathematician who calculated trajectories for NASA flights; Florence Hawley Ellis, an anthropologist of Pueblo cultures who pioneered tree-ring dating; Gertrude Elion, a pharmacologist who developed treatments for leukemia and AIDS; and Margaret Burbidge, an astrophysicist who formulated a theory of quasars.

Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World is all about women that have stood out in scientific fields that are still male dominated, and stood out in very important ways. The chosen women are nicely varied, and their stories are important. The hows and whys of each of these women fighting for their place in their fields of choice, and the factors that hindered or helped their progress. I would have liked more of the background history for some of this, but still found the shared information to be interesting and important. I think each of the biographies was long enough to give a good grasp of the woman described, but none were so long or ponderous that it would lose the attention of the children that this book is marketed toward. I did find some of the vocabulary to be a little advanced for some of the younger readers that might be interested in the subject matter, with few context clues to help them figure it out, but I almost expect this in any text dealing with scientists or science history. However, to counter this- if readers take a moment there is a wonderful glossary in the back of the book the help them. I just know must of the students I work with are not likely to check for that glossary on their own.

Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World is a nice selection of brief biographies of a few of the talented female scientists that have made important contributions over the years. While not a perfect text, it is a good start and can inspire young scientists and start conversations about what has, and has not, changed over the years.

This was a good solid book, very informative and I loved the layout too
Highly recommended - 4 stars from me

What do an ichthyologist, a cartographer, a mathematician, and anthropologist, and a pharmacologist have in common? In this book, they share the fact that they are women. Further, some of them are women of color, a double-whammy in the world of science. But none of them let these facts hold them back.

I found this book fascinating, engrossing, and completely engaging. I loved how the author painted these women as real women with real desires facing real challenges of discrimination. From not even being hired because a woman in the work environment would be too “distracting” to be excluded from meetings because a woman couldn’t possible understand what was being discussed, each of these women met the challenges and proved that women can indeed think and solve huge problems. Each one overcame huge obstacles to become exceptional.

This book is rated as ages 8-12, grades 3-7, but even high schooler and college women would benefit from reading it. It would be a great springboard to further research or simply a pleasant inspirational read. I plan on getting this book for my own teen daughters, even though neither of them are scientifically inclined. I feel that the inspirational value alone is completely worth it!

I gratefully received this book as an eARC from the author, publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Think you know history think again, think you know women in history your not even close. This book taught about women you changed the world and changed how the world should view women.

'Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World' by Laurie Lawlor is a book for middle school readers that gives short biographies on six amazing women.

Included in the book are the bios of Eugenie Clark, who swam with sharks, and Katherine Coleman Johnson, one of the human computers at NASA, whose story was told as part of the recent film Hidden Figures. Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor, Florence Hawley Ellis was an archaeologist and anthropologist of Pueblo cultures. Gertrude Elion worked on treatments for leukemia and won the Nobel Prize. Margaret Burbidge was an astrophysicist in an era when women weren't even allowed to use some of the larger observatories.

It becomes apparent that these are women who overcame adversity. Many also benefitted from World War II, when women of their skills were suddenly given opportunities. Many of them had trouble working in their field or even getting in to the classes they needed. All of them made significant findings in their field.

I've read a few books on S.T.E.M. and many of them feel a bit uninspired. This is the sort of thing that could inspire a young person to look to these fields and see the people who have gone on before them.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World shares biographies of six female scientists, whose discoveries have had an immeasurable impact on the world, but due to their gender, have been forgotten by history. This book includes biographies about Shark expert Eugenie Clark, Medical researcher Gertrude Elion and NASA ‘computer’ Katherine Coleman Johnson. This is an important book that needed to be written and read. It tells the story of six little known women pioneers in science. It's important that their stories are told and that girls are actively encouraged to pursue STEM careers.

Each mini-biography is written with an interesting introductory scene of their most important achievement then gives a brief explanation of their lives. This is a longer read, but the women and fields of study are captivating. It’s incredible to think of how many women were able to move into scientific fields only because of WWII and the “Rosy the Riveter” era of letting women into the work force. I almost wish that this book would have focused in a little bit more on some of that background history. Also, the vocabulary is rather elevated with very few context clues or explanations, so if a younger student was reading this, they would need a lot of help.

I received this ARC copy from Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC and Holiday House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent resource that tells many unknown stories of fantastic women.

This is a wonderfully engaging and thorough book about influential women. It would be a wonderful class read aloud and writing response.

Super Women: Six Scientists Who Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor tells of wonderful women that stand out in this world of men and stand out BIG! All the women are amazing in their field but when I was growing up I couldn't get enough of Genie Clark! I would read all about her adventures in kid's books and in magazines. I adored her and her accomplishments and still do. All these women deserve a great deal of respect for all they have done! Thanks NetGalley for sharing this knowledge and great book with me.

I really appreciate literature that highlights the achievements of women, especially women of color. This book focuses on six scientists from modern history: Eugenie Clark (ichthyologist), Katherine Coleman Johnson (mathematician for NASA), Gertrude Elion (pharmacologist & inventor of treatments for leukemia and AIDS), Marie Tharp (underwater cartographer), Florence Hawley Ellis (anthropologist & creator of tree ring dating, and Margaret Burbidge (astrophysicist who theorized quasars).

Each mini-biography is written with an interesting introductory scene of their most important achievement then gives a brief explanation of their lives. This is a short read, but the women and fields of study are captivating. It’s incredible to think of how many women were able to move into scientific fields only because of WWII and the “Rosy the Riveter” era of letting women into the work force. I almost wish that this book would have focused in a little bit more on some of that background history. Also, the vocabulary is rather elevated with very few context clues or explanations, so if a younger student was reading this, they would need a lot of help. I think this would be a great read for an advanced 5th grade or middle school student. I enjoyed this and learned a lot.

Appropriate text for the age range. Would have liked to see more diversity in the featured women.

These six women have fascinating stories, but unfortunately this book is not particularly well written.

This is an important book that needed to be written and read. It tells the story of six little known women pioneers in science. It's important that their stories are told and that girls are actively encouraged to pursue STEM careers. I really enjoyed the piece on Florence Hawley Ellis an archaeologist who pioneered dendrology (I am training to be an archaeologist!).
It is marketed at children but I would say that the use of scientific terms may make this a little hard for children to read, but there is a glossary included.