BIOGRAPHIES OF BRILLIANT WOMEN IN STEM

Shark Lady

The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist

  • Amazon Best Book of the Month

  • A Parents Magazine Best Book of 2017

  • One of New York Times's Twelve Books for Feminist Boys and Girls!

Eugenie Clark fell in love with sharks from the first moment she saw them at the aquarium. She couldn't imagine anything more exciting than studying these graceful creatures. But Eugenie quickly discovered that many people believed sharks to be ugly and scary―and they didn't think women should be scientists.

Determined to prove them wrong, Eugenie devoted her life to learning about sharks. After earning several college degrees and making countless discoveries, Eugenie wrote herself into the history of science, earning the nickname "Shark Lady." Through her accomplishments, she taught the world that sharks were to be admired rather than feared and that women can do anything they set their minds to. 


Ocean Speaks

How Marie Tharp Revealed the Ocean’s Biggest Secret

Meet Marie Tharp, the first person to map the Earth's underwater mountain ridge, in this inspiring picture book biography from the author of Shark Lady.

From a young age, Marie Tharp loved watching the world. She loved solving problems. And she loved pushing the limits of what girls and women were expected to do and be.

In the mid-twentieth century, women were not welcome in the sciences, but Marie was tenacious...


The Girl Who Built An Ocean

An Artist, an Argonaut, and the True Story of the World’s First Aquarium

The inspiring tale of a seamstress-turned-scientist who invented the world's first aquarium at a time when women in STEM were startlingly rare.

The daughter of a seamstress and a cobbler, Jeanne Villepreux-Power began her career as a dressmaker, sewing beautiful gowns for the Parisian aristocracy. But her heart longed for more, and when she moved to the seaside, she became fascinated by the ocean's mysteries.
 
She filled her pockets with seashells and specimens, and filled her notebooks with oservations about coral and crustaceans and all manner of marine life. The argonaut interested her most of all, but Jeanne's observations of this shy creature were confounded by its tendency to swim away when approached. Jeanne wanted a way to bring a piece of the ocean home with her, and that's she came to build the world's first aquarium—an invention that would pave the way for countless scientific discoveries in the years to come...


Birdlore

The Iridescent Life of Florence Merriam Bailey

The groundbreaking scientist who inspired a nation to take up bird-watching and worked tirelessly to protect our feathered friends.

Before Florence, there was no such thing as "bird-watching". Bright plumes on lady's hats were all the rage, but no one was climbing trees or wading through marsh-grass to spot the birds they came from. Even scientists studied birds in labs instead of outside in their natural habitat.

But Florence changed all that. A bird-lover since childhood, she wanted to show the world what made these creatures special. She wanted everyone to care as much as she did, and so she taught classes, printed pamphlets, and eventually began leading bird walks so people could see it with their own eyes. Over time, they did see! With hard work and perseverence, Florence changed the way we look at birds, inspiring millions to follow in her footsteps on bird walks of their own.