Untold Stories of Scientists and Inventors

 Stolen Science 

by Ella Schwartz; illus. by Gaby D'Alessandro 

128 pages; ages 9-11

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2021

This book asks the question: when you think of famous scientists and inventors, who comes to mind? Chances are you might have thought about Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin… maybe even Marie Curie.

If you stop and think for a moment, you might start wondering: where are the black inventors? Where are the stories of women in science? Why don’t we hear more about immigrant contributions to science and technology and engineering?

Because, writes author Ella Schwartz, too often their contributions have been overlooked, or credit for their discoveries given to other people. She sets out to rectify the situation by telling the stories of thirteen people who have been overlooked, underappreciated, and written out of history:

Mary Anning, whose discovery of ichthyosaur was published in scientific papers by a man who never credited her for finding – and digging out – the fossils.

Jo Anderson, who forged parts for, and assembled the mechanical reaper bearing the McCormick name. As an enslaved person, Jo never received credit for his invention.

Antonio Meucci, who invented a telephone years before Bell, but could not raise enough money to build the working prototype required for a patent.

Benjamin Bradley who built working models of steam engines but, as an enslaved person, was prohibited from patenting the idea.

Carlos Juan Finlay, Anna Wessels Williams, and Nettie Stevens who were denied credit for their discoveries in medicine and genetics

Lise Meitner, Hilde Mangold, Chien-Shiung Wu, Marie Tharp, and Rosalind Franklin who did groundbreaking research in physics, embryology, and more, but whose discoveries were presented by men. 

After grinding my teeth over the injustice of it all, I asked Ella One Question:

me: What made you want to tell these stories?

Ella: Throughout history, women and marginalized people have long had to claw their way to make advances in the sciences, only to have the credit for their groundbreaking work stolen from them - and that’s not fair. I chose to write Stolen Science to finally give credit where credit was due! These stories deserve to be told and children of all backgrounds deserve to see themselves represented in the sciences. Science is open to everyone.

One of the cool things about this book is that sprinkled throughout are sidebars that offer deep dives into the science and technology. You can learn more about the molecular structure of DNA, have fun with nuclear physics, and get a better grounding in paleontology.

Stolen Science is a perfect book for Women’s History Month. It’s also one of the books featured over at STEM Tuesday this month, where the focus is on diversity in STEM.

Ella is a member of #STEAMTeam books. Her middle grade book, Is It Okay To Pee In The Ocean? comes out in January, 2023 from Bloomsbury. You can find out more about her at her website.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Today let's amplify black scientist voices

In support of #ShutDownSTEM, I am not posting my regularly scheduled bug photos. Instead, I want to introduce you to an entomologist you probably haven't heard about. 

photo from Wikipedia

  Margaret Collins was known as the “Termite Lady” and was also a civil rights activist.  While teaching at Florida A&M, she would take her family on collecting trips in Everglades National Park. Later, she moved to Washington, DC where she taught at what is now the University of District of Columbia. She also became a research associate at the Smithsonian. She was so dedicated to the cause of civil rights that she put her career on pause for five years. In the publish-or-perish world of science, that's one heck of a commitment! 

The wonderful folks over at Ask an Entomologist have posted a great story of her life, with plenty of links - I encourage you to read it here. 

Saving Lives of "Blue Babies"

Breakthrough! How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever
by Jim Murphy
144 pages; ages 10 & up
Clarion Books, 2015

If you have a young reader who loves mysteries, technology, invention, science  - a kid who thinks that someday she will want to be a doctor, put this book in her hands! Or his hands.

Author Jim Murphy tells the story of one of the first successful heart operations ever performed. It's about the medical breakthrough that not only saved the lives of tens of thousands of children but also opened the way for future heart surgeries.

And it took place in 1944. An unlikely team performed this high-risk surgery: surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock; pediatric physician Dr. Helen Taussig; and African-American lab assistant Vivien Thomas. Blalock received the fame, but it was Thomas who developed and perfected the surgical technique to repair the hearts of children born with "blue baby" syndrome. In fact, he was the only person who had ever carried out the surgery successfully on a research animal.

Most of the people working at Johns Hopkins had no idea of Thomas's genius - many of them thought he was a janitor. Indeed, during that time of segregation, he was often treated as such. In one instance the director refused to order equipment that Thomas needed to conduct research. And yet, without his guidance, Blalock would not have been able to do the surgery.

Had history gone in a different direction, Thomas might have attended medical school. But the depression swallowed his meager savings. Desperate for a job, he landed in Blalock's lab. Fortunately, Blalock was looking for an assistant who could learn quickly and even suggest avenues for investigation. Often, Thomas would have to invent the tools he and Blalock would use in their surgeries.

Murphy touches on many topics as he tells this story, including the debate on using animals in medical research, how women and blacks were treated in the medical/research field, and the role of innovation in developing technology. But mostly, he tells a compelling story.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. On Monday we're joining the folks at Nonfiction Monday. Review copy provided by the publisher.