SWE - Spring 2009 - (Page 68)

MEDIA SHELF This year, during Women’s History Month, read up on the remarkable engineering women who made and are making history; and let book, magazine, and Web publishers know that we want more! BY BARBARA BOGUE, SWE EDITORIAL BOARD achievements of the Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover teams and spins the tale of Mars exploration. Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America, by Charlotte S. Waisman and Jill S. Tietjen, P.E. (Collins, 2008), presents the achievements of U.S. women in a timeline format. The authors note well-known women such as Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Margaret Sanger, and Eleanor Roosevelt while uncovering and highlighting the achievements of engineers and scientists. In the unwinding of the timeline, they make readers aware of myriad women who have broken through cultural and institutional barriers to create paths and examples for those who follow. Her Story’s timeline includes women early in American history who continue to shape our lives, which brings us to Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (William Morrow, 2004). Cokie Roberts, familiar to NPR listeners, counterbalances the many recent popular histories that feature revolutionary war heroes and creators of the United States, but fail to consider the contributions of the women at their sides. She details the efforts of women such as Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, as well as lesser known women, who stayed back to run the farms, who actively supported the war effort, and who kept everything going. Eliza Pinckney took over her family’s plantations at 16, and undertook a process of scientific discovery that led to the ability of American farmers to grow indigo and other crops — contribut- W hat do grocery bags, Kevlar®, circular saws, the Mars exploration, and development of modern agricultural methods have in common? They were all either invented by or led by women. And they are all known to us today because of the rise of women’s history as a legitimate field of study. In the 1970s, women historians began to challenge the prevailing “great man” approach to history, researching and reporting the contributions of great women. Especially during March — Women’s History Month — we celebrate women who laid trails and led change. We also celebrate the women who challenged accepted notions by establishing the study of women’s history as an academic endeavor and important component of our understanding and knowledge of the world. And so it is fitting to take a look at a few of the books available that are a direct result of their efforts. Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers, by Sybil E. Hatch (American Society of Civil Engi- major resource, will look good on your coffee table. Consider buying a copy for your local school’s guidance office and library as well. Speaking of inventive girls, the classic Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women, by Catherine Thimmesh (author) and Melissa Sweet (illustrator) (Sandpiper, 2002), looks at creative girls and women ranging from the inventors of Liquid Paper® to the technical director of the computer-animated film “A Bug’s Life” to the invention of the spacecraft bumper. Young inventors and encouragement to start inventing are also features. The same team emphasizes women’s intelligent curiosity and scientific discoveries in The Sky’s the Limit: Stories of Discovery by Women and Girls (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), covering topics from the discovery of Stone Age cave paintings to the conception and creation of the Mars Microrover. The creator of that microrover and manager of the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Donna Shirley, tells her story in Managing Martians: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman’s Lifelong Quest to Get to Mars — and of the Team Behind the Space Robot That Has Captured the Imagination of the World (Broadway, 1998). Shirley makes real the challenges and neers, 2006), engages the reader with stories about how women engineers have an impact on all aspects of our lives. Readers of all ages will enjoy reading about the contributions of more than 200 extraordinary women. This beautifully illustrated book, which used the SWE archives as a 68 SWE SPRING 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Spring 2009

SWE - Spring 2009 Heritage Club Contents President's Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Honoring Women’s History Public Policy Update First Lady: The “Second-Hardest Job in America” Bringing Science and Engineering into Public Policy At the Intersection of Engineering and Public Policy From Research to Reality Coffee Table Dialogues Membership Information & Calendar A&B Winning Essays from the Lava Lounge Engineering World: Issues • Events • Technology • People Point of View: Your Role in Public Policy Career Toolbox: Communicating with Congress; Finding Your Voice Corporate Partnership Council Media Shelf: Women’s History Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook: Dressed for Success

SWE - Spring 2009

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