Hypatia’s heritage : a history of women in science from antiquity to the late nineteenth century

This work reaffirms women’s substantial contributions to scientific knowledge throughout the ages, revisiting names such as Hypatia of Alexandra, astrologer and philosopher Hildegaard of Bingen, Lady Mary Montegu – who developed inoculation against smallpox, the chemist Marie Levoissier, Caroline Hershel – a renowned astrologer, Ada Lovelace – whose work contributed to the beginnings of computer science, Mary Somerville «the queen of 19th-century science» and, of course, Marie Curie. In doing so she both reinforces women’s contributions to history and outlines the precedents for women making great strides in contemporary science.