I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. It was very well-researched and also really interesting!

This nonfiction book is Based on the podcast of the same name, co-founded by co-author Hafner, profiles of significant yet overlooked female scientists. Bellow is writing in trustworthy, matter-of-fact prose, Bellows introduce readers to 10 STEM dynamos, among them Eunice Newton Foote, “the Mother of Climate Science,” who identified the greenhouse effect; and cryptanalyst Elizabeth Smith Friedman, whose codebreaking efforts helped the U.S. government bring down Mafia bootleggers and infiltrate Nazi spy networks; and many other scientists. Other women were influential in the fields of mycology, modern computer programming, ethnobotany, and mechanical engineering. Also profiled is Leona Zacharias, Hafner’s grandmother, a nearly forgotten member of the team that solved the mystery of why premature infants were going blind in the 1940s. Each chapter opens with a sketched portrait and a quick roundup of high notes before launching into the biographies. Recurring themes of the scientists being denied opportunities, jobs, and credentials due to their gender and (in some cases) their race demonstrate their strength of character, determination, and intellect. The scientific sidebars are particularly strong, explaining concepts . I have never heard of these women scientists. It amazes me that they never gave up. This book is a reminder of women who slip through the cracks of history.

The Lost Women of Science highlights the ordinary and extraordinary lives of 10 women whose intelligence, perseverance, and self-confidence changed lives during their time as well as into the future and our present. We learn about the first female fungus expert and plant pathologist who helped develop the screening system for all plant material entering the US. We learn about America's first female code-breaker. And we learn about the woman who could be considered the "most prominent woman astronomer of all time."

All of these women have similar challenges of living in a time when women weren't supposed to be educated or have jobs outside the home, and when, if they did and accomplished something great, the credit was given (often taken by) a man. However, the book isn’t about blaming men or society at the time, instead, the emphasis is on the perseverance and accomplishments of these remarkable women.

Along with the amazing biographies of the featured women, the book includes additional information about the real-life consequences of their work. Some chapters also include steps for simple and fun experiments you can do at home, highlighting the scientist featured. I feel like this element reinforces the idea that science, research, and curiosity are for EVERYONE.

I recommend this book for any personal library and any upper elementary school classroom/library.

#TheLostWomenofScience #NetGalley

The Lost Women of Science is a middle-school aged book focusing on 10 revolutionary women in STEM who made remarkable strides in their field. But like many women of their time, they were not properly credited or received just praise for their work. This book briefly talks about their past and accomplishments.

I found this book very interesting and informative, as I had never heard of any of these women. And this book is perfectly targeted to young middle-school kids, particularly girls, to help understand what women are (and have always been) capable of achieving. It was also a nice touch that one of the authors was related to one of the women - it gave the book a more personal touch. A great read for any woman!

Thanks to Random House Children's, Bright Matter Books, Melina Gerosa Bellows, Katie Hafner, and Karyn Lee for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars. Read this with my daughter and my 8yo son ended up getting sucked in and wanting to read it too. We all really enjoyed and found that there were a wide variety of women represented in the book across various STEM fields and time periods. It was fascinating reading about women who have contributed greatly and then been forgotten/discredited/etc. and we felt like this was an important read for all and sparked great discussions with my 8yo.

Each woman's story is presented in an easily digestible chunk and we had no trouble reading aloud one or two stories per night and then looking up more information or discussing. Would be an awesome book to add to science units!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! Definitely one we will look to purchasing for our homeschool shelf.

I appreciated the format of this book: minibiographies, sidebars with additional information, and a few opportunities to conduct to experiments. I would have this in my school library to help students get a fuller view of women and science, but the book is not as diverse as the cover implies. This is an opportunity for a second volume for publication.

I learned that when women's contributions are overlooked it's called "The Matilda Effect." There are so many famous stories about women's names disappearing, and this book shows some of the amazing accomplishments women have made to science.
Some of them were the first in their field, as it was more difficult for women to even get accepted to college. One of the women complained that she was tired of being first -- where are the others?
Several women are highlighted, and we get to see the obstacles they had to overcome to get there and learn about their areas. One woman learned so much about cystic fibrosis that parents from around the country sought her out, and one coded for early computers.
This book is fun because we get to see what good they did while thinking about what else there is to discover. One of the women studied nutritional benefits of algae, something that could help now. Anyone can ask questions and it's wonderful to read about women finding the answers.

A collective biography of "lost women of science" that follows the path of women computers, scientists, researchers, etc. whose discoveries were either wholly or partially lost to history because men either took credit for the work, theirs wasn't written down, or it was piled on by others.

One in particular moved me and that was the woman who went into the medical field only to discover cystic fibrosis. Her job at the time was to complete autopsies of young children who had died to find commonalities or issues that caused the deaths when she discovered something specific in the mucous and then started writing to other doctors about patients to find the similarities and diagnose this condition. While a protege wrote a paper and got more recognition and credit, she discovered it by being observant and asking questions. The other was the fungal scientist.

The organization of the collective biography includes a quote and "resume" before diving into the specifics of the woman's work that should be celebrated and recognized.

This is a young readers book about women who were overlooked by history, and whose accomplishments were not credited to them. In many fields of science, these women showed excelling talent and made advancements that benefit us today. I enjoyed many of the mini biographies. The book is approachable and includes pictures, illustrations and side-columns of information.

I received an e-copy of this book through Net Galley and the publisher. This review is my own thoughts and opinions about it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review.

As a woman who works in STEM myself I was excited to read a book about women in science. I also wanted to see if this was a good book to give to my nephews and nieces to learn more about women and their achievements in science.

This book was a fun way to learn about so many different women and the stings they did to help in their respective fields. Though my copy was not wholly finished with some pics and activities I can imagine what a great book it is going to be to teach not only children but us adults about these lost women.

Definitely check this book out once it hits the shelves.

ere are women of science whose accomplishments were overwritten by men despite the fact that they were not only (more) qualified, but also ahead of their time. The pointed mini biographies are peppered with illustrations and photographs that bring each one of them to life. Excellent!
The illustrations by Karyn Lee are primarily clear drawings that represent people and things before inexpensive photography.
Well suited for reading alone or WITH someone of any age, including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school, waiting room, or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected advance proof for review purposes on Thorium PDF from Random House Children's | Bright Matter Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Aug 19, 2025
#TheLostWomenofScience by Melina Gerosa Bellows and Katie Hafner is illustrated by @Karyn Lee @randomhousechildrens #Bright Matter Books #illustrated #BooksForAll #ChildrensBooks #ReadAloud #SchoolLibrary #ClassroomReading #BackToSchoolBooks #NetGalleyFinds #netgalleyreads #middleschoolers @NYPL @bookbub #weneeddiversebooks #STEAMbooks #elementary @bklynlibrary #kidlit #picturebook @goodreads @childrensbookcouncil #NetGalley *****review @librarythingofficial #LostWomenofSciencePodcast #photographs @bookshop_org @bookshop_org_uk

This book includes brief biographies of several women that were pioneers in various scientific fields, yet have been relatively unknown by the general public. It was well-researched and written in an accessible format. The sidebars were full of interesting a relevant facts. It was so interesting to read about these women that contributed so greatly to science and the way we understand the world. While I've never listened to the podcast before, I'm very interested to give it a try. Readers that enjoy the Rebel Girls series and other similar nonfiction, as well as those with a love of science will likely enjoy this.

A Must-Read for Moms, Daughters, and Curious Minds Everywhere

The Lost Women of Science is a powerful and inspiring read. As a mom to a ten-year-old daughter, I was deeply moved by the stories of brilliant women whose contributions to science had been overlooked for far too long. The book is full of fascinating facts and surprising discoveries, many of which I had never heard before.

What made the experience even more special was sharing it with my daughter. Watching her eyes light up as we read about these trailblazing scientists was a reminder of just how important representation and storytelling are. This book is not just about history; it’s about opening doors for the next generation.

Beautifully written and filled with photos and engaging sketches, this book brings these hidden figures to life. I highly recommend it to anyone... especially parents raising curious, bright girls who deserve to know that women have always belonged in science.

The Lost Women of Science gives tribute to the many accomplishments and achievement of some of the most brilliant and innovative women who have pioneered the scientific community. Each chapter provides a thorough analysis and account of a different female scientist. The authors, Melina Gerosa Bellows and Katie Hafner, have superbly captured the importance and genuine spirit of the mission and drive of each of these women, including the years they spent researching prominent topics and how the individual childhoods shaped and enriched their roles within their respective fields.

This book is well written and well researched. History has primarily been written by men, and men have attempted to erase women's contributions.

Written for middle school - high school and beyond, this text informs the readers about various women who have remained mostly unknown but who have made major contributions to science. It is written in an engaging way and would pull the interest of any reluctant reader.

I would recommend this book for any classroom library grades 4 and above as well as any home library.

Thank you to NetGalley for the electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishers.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Publishers through NetGalley.
Readers meet ten women who made major contributions to scientific fields but were not given the credit they deserved. Too often, in their lifetimes, men were the only ones acknowledged in these fields. The author provides biographies as well as further information on their fields so readers can learn and explore a variety of areas. The book is based on Hafner's "The Lost Women of Science" podcast. The writing style is easy to follow for middle grade readers. It will pull them in to learn, and, hopefully, inspire them to do more discovery in their areas of interest.

This book is perfect for using (as I would be) in the classroom library! I loved how there are 10 women who made incredible discoveries in the fields of science, who tend to be overlooked by their fellow scientists, who are male. The opportunity for hands on learning with at home projects is awesome, and would be so fun to do at home!

If you love science (or have a science loving/curious child) then this is the book for you. Bellows covers ten women who made incredible/life-changing scientific discoveries that occasionally get forgotten in a male dominated field. Within the stories of these women are at-home projects where kids can see what these women discovered for themselves.

Thank you to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the eARC!

I absolutely loved this! I'm a big fan of biography collections in general, and this one really shined. I love the inclusion of extra tidbits for readers, whether it's a science experiment or the history of cryptology! The book is also chock full of illustrations, photographs, and more. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the different Lost Women of Science (as well as a variety of other interesting related topics), and I can't wait to add the final product to my library's collection! 4.5 Stars

I’ve always had a passion for science - as a kid I loved our Ortho Bug Book (my mom recalls the hours I used to spend looking through it) and anything to do with the ocean and its creatures. So many women made incredible scientific discoveries, but as a young girl I never knew their names because their accomplishments often went unrecognized. So to say I am grateful that girls today are able to pick up a book like #thelostwomenofscience by Melina Gerosa Bellows and Katie Hafner is an understatement. Thank you to @netgalley for sharing this wonderful book with me! I will definitely be adding it to my classroom shelves when it’s published!