🔬 Rita Colwell has more degrees, achievements, & accolades than I can list. The woman is brilliant. This book is about the sexism she experienced during her career, which began in the 1950s.

🔬 I loved 2 things about this book. First, Colwell was often forced to change her field of study due to sexism. This led her to realize that science is best studied from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Second, she recognized that having only men on a team resulted in bias, just like having only women would. Any endeavor is better achieved when men & women work together. Understanding biases and learning from those differences can and does lead to amazing discoveries.

🔬 The book seems to imply (to me anyway) that gender bias is the only reason why women don’t achieve higher positions in the workplace. That was true in previous decades, but I don’t personally believe it is quite as true today. Women have been shattering the glass ceiling in STEM for decades now, including Colwell and women who came before her. And keep in mind, according to the US Census Bureau, STEM workers were 73% men and 27% women in 2019 (and the number of women in specific fields like engineering, physical sciences, & computer sciences is even lower). We need more women in STEM! While gender bias is a real thing (particularly in the context of this book about reaching top positions), it can’t help that there are considerably less women in STEM careers in the first place.

🔬 Colwell’s experiences & actions against sexism, along with other women like her, are likely why I have only experienced sexism in one isolated incident in my entire 30-year career in STEM. Read this book to learn how hard it was for women, even just a few decades ago, to persevere against systemic sexism. Thankfully, there are now laws that combat much of the sexism women like Colwell have endured.

Thank you @netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This is a must read for anyone, female or male considering a career in science or advising women students. The author has been there and overcome the obstacles, so she speaks from a place of authority. The experiences, however, should never have happened and if humanity is to survive and thrive we'll need all the scientific talent we can get.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Colwell and was eager to read her thoughts on being such a high profile and powerful woman in science when the larger academic structure is still working on increasing women in STEM. Her voice is encouraging and honest with the challenges that she faced. And we still face. It is welcoming for someone in her position to validate the systemic sexism. A great look at how far we have come while charting the next generation's course.

Colwell approaches sexism in science with logic and emotion, with science and facts as well as anecdotes and heart. I'm not in the field of science but found that, in many ways, the industry doesn't matter - though this would be important for any woman scientist. It's relevant and relatable.

This book brings inspiration and despair by turn. As a woman (formerly) in science it was so frustrating to read but also familiar. A generational precursor to Hope Jaren's "Lab Girl" (if you liked "Lab Girl" read this, if you liked this read "Lab Girl"), it follows the storied career of Dr. Rita Colwell. Much of the book is a realistic description of the challenges and deterrents woman have faced in the scientific world, but it also chronicles her successes and how she made it through each obstacle. The book closes with her suggestions for supporting female scientists and retaining diversity in the field.

Recommend for: people with daughters, people interested in science

Really interesting and informative. I found this book to be a really fun read, especially considering the subject. Four enjoyable stars.

Excellent book. As a female in STEM, It was refreshing to see how far we've come, but disheartening to realize how far we still need to go. I've recommended this book to several colleagues since I read it and will continue to do so.

""I'm Dr. Colwell," I said. Judging by the look on his face, clearly he was surprised... he told me later, the idea that a a woman professor was going to direct his graduate studies had never crossed his mind."

This book hit me like a ton of bricks in the best way possible but I was not expecting (or ready) for it. I picked up this book because 1. I had read a few of Dr. Colwell's papers during my graduate research and was familiar with her name and 2. Hello, there are marine microorganisms on the cover so yes, I will read it. I got so much more out of this than expected.

So, first and foremost THANK YOU DR. RITA COLWELL for everything, literally EVERYTHING. I can't even begin to express my gratitude or even put into words how much this woman has done for this Earth. Thanks you for all you've done for women in general, women in science, every single person in the world and for me personally. I had no idea how much our lives have overlapped and I was mind blown each time she said something new. Dr. Colwell might be my fairy godmother. She has directly impacted MY life in ways I had absolutely no idea: in the fields of science I’ve studied, in places/labs I’ve lived in and worked, in topics I’ve studied, in marine microbiology, in oil spill ecology and in the program she chaired that funded my masters’ degree. She literally set up my research program and helped allocate funds my research ( BP Oil Spill - GOMRI). She also lived and worked in Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay with marine plankton - every time she said copepod my heart smiled.

Dr. Colwell has literally crawleed, walked, and wacked the science community so that I could walk through in her foot steps. She has done so much for women in science and I am so grateful I never had to face the challenges she faced during her career. It is mind blowing how biased and stacked against women so many things are.

Dr. Colwell has done everything for discovering and understanding cholera strains, to fighting against bioterrorism... she has chaired every program in science and has paved the way for women to be accepted into the science community.

There is so much more I could and should say but I am speechless. Dr. Colwell is amazing and I am forever grateful for the work she has done and continues to do.This book was very impactful for me and an important piece of work for the foundations of the science community.

"Women were afraid that, if we helped other women too obviously, we'd become tainted and suffer more discrimination"

I was fascinated, saddened, happy, amazed as I read this book. Rita Colwell's accomplishments and ability to 'have it all' impressed me. I was fascinated about how willing and eagerly she changed her focus depending upon where she could get support and where her husband's job was. She learned so much that way both about her scientific interests and people that it gave her a great deal of strength to persevere into a great and exciting career. Her intellectual journey was wonderful to read about. The last chapters of the book where she is giving advice, etc. may be necessary but I found it to be too much of a lecture and lacking the trust of other women to figure some of it out on their own. Outlining what issues she sees as still needing to be addressed to make space for more women, minorities in science to move to the top would have been more to my liking. So . . .I pretty much skimmed through all of that.

I picked up this book because my daughter chose the "Girls can't be as good at science as boys" stereotype to bust for her Girl Scout journey and I wanted to show her some support. While I knew what the culture was like in other areas for women during this time period, I did not have any understanding at all about how hard women had (and have) to work to be seen as equals in this field. A well-written and good read for me but I imagine an even better read for those that study or love science.
Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

5 star topic and thinking, 3 star writing -- 4 star book! It's at times a slog, but this book is both a chronicle of one amazing woman's life in science and of broader discrimination against and mistreatment of women in the sciences. It's equal parts captivating and infuriating, especially when I think of all the amazing women I know doing (largely thankless, yet tremendously important) work in STEM.

It's a testament to the insidious power of the forces Colwell describes, too, that I came away from this book thinking Colwell is almost certainly underselling how insanely accomplished her career is. Among other things, she was the first woman to lead the NSF, served as president of the American Society for Microbiology and AAAS, and conducted pioneering research on cholera and tracing anthrax attacks. She mentions all of these things, some in depth, but even while she described her work at length, at times the reader can feel that these things were almost destined, rather than the product of insanely hard work and a lot of brilliance. Her modesty suits her, but I can't help but think a man would have spent even more time taking credit for things and spent far less effort making sure credit was shared with all who had been involved. (One small thing she doesn't mention -- the work on tracing anthrax was later strongly disputed and remains in question to this day. But it's her memoir, so that's not a particularly realistic expectation).

I will confess that I almost never read memoir, so I might be grading a bit harshly. But mechanically, I found at times this book tough to progress through. I appreciated the efforts to identify and elevate the contributions of women in science, but at times the list of names felt thrown in and exhausting. As a result, I don't think I absorbed many of them, which is a shame. Going deeper on a smaller set might have been more effective. Similarly, some of the sections, particularly in her earlier and mid-career felt unfocused and could have benefited from a sharper edit that forced a clearer emphasis on an argument, story, or through line, rather than straying into whatever the author happened to find interesting.

But don't let that stop you. At a bare minimum, everyone should read the last chapter about how they can be better allies and advocates (though obviously there are books and books about that topic in more depth or from different angles that are also worthwhile). Doing so isn't just the morally right thing to do, though it very much is for people who aspire to build a more just society; but as Colwell notes, it actually benefits us all. We're wasting so much human potential, leaving people to suffer needlessly, and discouraging people willing to work very hard to make life better for the rest of us.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a woman in science who recently completed a PhD in Chemistry, I was able to appreciate the changes implemented by Rita and other women of her time. Although the book felt a bit preachy at times, I liked that it was grounded in facts that made it abundantly clear the sad state of affairs. I oscillated between being surprised at how recently all these events occurred, to nodding in agreement because my experiences matched Rita's.

Would highly recommend for everyone, and is easily digestible even if you do not have much of a science background.

Rita Colwell takes us on a journey through the labs and research that shaped her tenure in science. Hearing her share all the ways, subtle and not, that she was discriminated against and forced to work harder than her male peers is sobering. It is easy to lose sight of all the ways that progress had to be worked for and I am thankful that she took the time to share all the ways that things continue to progress. As she progresses from undergrad labs to years shaping government policy, her life is a reminder of why we need women in science.

Not just interesting, but also very important. Rita Colwell has had a long career in science and she shares a wealth of information about how being a woman factored into that. There are stories about blatant discrimination and unconscious bias, but ultimately a hopeful tone about the potential for change going forward. After detailing her personal journey, time is spent at the end of the work examining the general trends in the field and offering advice for aspiring female scientists.

Frustrated to confirm that female scientists were not acknowledged by males, they were not given the same respect or opportunity in the early years.

Rita Colwell, a former director of the National Science Foundation and accomplished scientist, tells her story of overcoming stereotypes and obstacles in her field to find success. I enjoyed learning the history of Colwell and others who pushed to make changes in the science field so that women can have more opportunities.

As one of America’s leading scientists, with six decades of experience, Dr. Rita Colwell has many fascinating stories to tell. The book describes how sexism in her graduate studies led her to switch areas, and thus gave her a vital interdisciplinary perspective that served her well over many years. It describes her research into cholera and her work leading a committee that spent years looking for the source of the anthrax spores sent in the US mail.

The recurring theme is the resilience and determination of women in science over the decades, and the extra obstacles they face.

The authors make the strong case that minimizing or excluding people from the study of science damages the whole endeavor. More women (and other underrepresented groups) equals better science.

Colwell and her coauthor Sharon McGrayne have written an entertaining, readable memoir with a compelling message for change.

In this memoir-manifesto, Rita Colwell shares her experience as a scientist in the U.S., tracing back to her childhood in the 1940s. She is a microbiologist with a powerful patchwork of other education that empowered her to be a creative, interdisciplinary researcher. She was the first female director of the National Science Foundation after decades of dedicated scholarship and coordinated dismantling of the daily sexism in her industry. ⁣
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as much as the blatant sexism made me furious. I was particularly enthralled by Dr. Colwell’s diplomacy, shrewdness, and organizing skill. One part I did not expect but was glad to read about was Dr. Colwell’s role in the study of cholera as well as sequencing the anthrax from the mail scare after 9/11.⁣
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My only criticism has to do with her final chapter which consists of advice / ideas (so very scientific of her — opportunities for future study!). Some of her suggestion rely on privilege and flexibility, e.g. picking a school based on how they approach teaching science, starting computer science before high school, etc. I was hoping for some system-level suggestions around making exposure to lab-type science a more universal secondary school experience. ⁣
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Reading this made me realize how my own education coincided with efforts from leaders like Dr. Colwell. Initiatives to get women into STEMM are not a thing of the past. I’m very grateful for women like Rita Colwell who blazed the trail.

✔️ Read this one if you:⁣
- Appreciate full-life memoirs that span a whole career ⁣
- Are interested in sexism in the scientific domain ⁣
- Want to learn about a remarkable woman ⁣
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〰️ Skip it if you:⁣
- Aren’t into memoirs⁣
- Are looking for a thorough treatise gender dynamics within the world of science

This book filled me with such rage on behalf of all the female scientists who were routinely sidelined and harassed over the year. Part memoir, part scientific history, I loved A Lab of One's Own and its focus on female scientists. I loved the chapter detailing Colwell's work on cholera (fascinating work that makes me want to learn more), but I also really loved the history of science it revealed (even if it got me all fired up and rage filled). Colwell is very frank and level regarding the serialized mistreatment women had faced (with specific instances at universities and labs detailed), and is quick to mention her colleagues and students who have contributed to her work. The authors present a vivid and clear account of what is was like to be a woman in science over the course of Colwell's long career, and was accessible to a reader trained in the humanities & social sciences rather than hard science/STEMM. The book has a good overall pace, and works for both picking up and putting down chapter by chapter, or as a solid binge read (but once again, some of the chapters might induce a mini rage stroke). The 2 pages covering Edith Green's passing of Title XI through a cleverly hidden footnote made me want to read an entire book on that subject, so this is also a good place to catapult you into more areas of discovery.
If you have even a passing interest in science (or feminism), I highly recommend this book (A quarter of the way through the book I recommended it to my sister in law who works at a women in science non-profit as a good work-read for them). I hope it picks up steam and

i really struggled with the writing in this. i don't think it was particularly <i>bad</i>, but really felt like it was rushing through things. while the timeline was somewhat linear, following Colwell's career, it also branched off haphazardly to describe other scientists and events. this might mesh better with someone more strongly interested in the history of the field and who is more familiar with the names mentioned. it also honestly felt more like a summary of Colwell's resume than anything else, like she was trying to go down a list rather than provide an actual narrative. while easy enough to read, i just didn't really find it engrossing at all.