Access to scientific literature and resources
On February 11th, International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated worldwide.
Moreover, this year is the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS) and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, two significant milestones in the global effort to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, as emphasized on the United Nations official page.
For this occasion, new books that support these efforts are presented in ATC reading room and available for loan. Topics include biographies and autobiographies of women scientists, unique stories about fighting prejudice and gender discrimination, significance of international collaboration, women’s mental healthcare improvement, and more.
Here is an overview of selected new books dedicated to the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2025, with a word from their reviewers and publishers.
By B. Rosemary Grant
cientist Rosemary Grant’s journey in life has involved detours and sidesteps—not the shortest or the straightest of paths, but one that has led her to the top of evolutionary biology. In this engaging and moving book, Grant tells the story of her life and career.
By Kathrin Zippel
Kathrin Zippel looks to the STEM fields as a case study, where gendered cultures and structures in academia have contributed to an underrepresentation of women, and argues that international considerations can be key to ending the steady attrition of women in STEM fields and developing a more inclusive academic world.
By Linda Gask
For centuries so called ‘difficult women’ have been labelled as ‘hysterical’ and ‘out of their minds’. Today they wait longer for health diagnoses, often being told it’s ‘all in their heads’. Although healthcare systems are overburdened, why are women the first to feel the effects of this? Psychiatrist Linda Gask explores women’s mental healthcare today and calls for faster change for better.
By Dava Sobel
Approaching Marie Curie from a unique angle, Sobel navigates her remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her legacy – from Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch and France’s Marguerite Perry, who discovered the element francium, to her own daughter, Irene, a Nobel Prize winner in her own right.
By Ursel Nendzig
The biography of the unconventional biochemist is an inspiration for all women to follow their own path.
By Anne Synnøve Simensen
Bertha von Suttner was a pioneer in the peace movement at the end of the 19th century. This book tells the gripping story of her relationship with Alfred Nobel and how she came to influence him in his decision to establish the Nobel Peace Prize.
By Jim Ottaviani
This original graphic novel features famous women scientists including Marie Curie, Emmy Noether, Lise Meitner, Rosalind Franklin, Barbara McClintock, Birute Galdikas, and Hedy Lamarr. The stories offer a human context often missing when we learn about the discoveries attached to these scientists’ names.