The thesis of this book is necessary and interesting. However, the writing was dull and pedantic. I wanted to like MOTHER OF INVENTION much more than I did!

An interesting premise, but basic google searches to learn more came up with mixed results and unable to confirm the veracity of statements made.

MOTHER OF INVENTION by Katrine Marçal is a thought-provoking look at "How Good Ideas Get Ignored in an Economy Built for Men." Marçal, an award-winning writer and journalist, begins her text in 1970 with the adoption of wheels on suitcases, noting "the 'blindingly obvious' can stare us expectantly in the face for an eternity before it occurs to us to make something of it." She further argues that the "we don't imagine the 'soft' (notions of femininity and masculinity) as being capable of holding back the ‘hard’ (constant technological advance)," observing that it was not until the 1970s when more women began travelling alone that suitcases with wheels were more widely used. Marçal shares other stories: a woman (Bertha Benz) was the first to make a long-distance car trip and the surprising origin of NASA's spacesuits. There is discussion of disparity in pay (in the 1950s, IBM in the UK calculated salary costs based on "girl hours' due to the abundance of female programmers) and witchhunts due to bad weather hundreds of years earlier. Marçal's work is entertaining and informative; she includes roughly forty pages of notes and bibliography. She convincingly points out that "when we consider a factor like gender, it becomes clear how technology is constantly being shaped within our preconceived ideas of the world, the economy and ourselves." MOTHER OF INVENTION received a starred review from Library Journal.

Wonderful book, a must for all university libraries. Marcal details the history of women inventors who have not received credit, as well as arguing that marginalizing women and other minorities impoverishes creativity. Diversity in ideas is related to diversity of experience, and inclusion in inventing enriches us all.

Mother of Invention by Katrine Marcal focuses on how gender bias has effected innovation and history. Written in a very readable way, this book is so maddening! What innovations could we have had if larger swaths of the population were considered? It’s fascinating to see how ideas have come about and how items are marketed. Even today, there are so many shortsighted inventions. Overall, a very interesting book though incredibly frustrating at times. It will give people insight on history and how we can improve.

Thank you Abrams Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Marçal’s book is extremely interesting, explaining how some of todays most used inventions were deemed unnecessary until a man basically thought to use it. Wheels on suitcases meant you were weak until it didn’t, the electric car took a backseat until now.

The book is written well and easy to understand!

Very readable non-fiction book with lots of interesting facts throughout. This book shows why it is important to have all people represented in rooms where decisions are being made. Highly recommend reading this book!

Interesting study on how inventions that benefited women were not picked up, until they become something that capitalism to make a profit from. The example on the cover, that of suitcases with wheels, was largely ignored as a product, even though many women had jerryrigged their suitcases, so they could roll.

The same thing with the walker, for the elderly, that came with a seat. It was invented by a woman who needed that feature in order to be able to get around. But this too was largely ignored, until there were people who needed it more.

Frustrating reading of all the inventions that got stolen from female inventors, or were made later, once the men could find a way to make a huge profit from them.





<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

A great “cocktail party” book, meaning that there are lots of tidbits in here to share at your next one. And, of course, a lot of things to get your feminist rage on about as well.

Does masculinity keep us from innovations that could make life easier? Has a disdain for femininity helped to usher us into a world run by fossil fuels? And why is it that women's jobs are typically more low-paying than men's? You will be fascinated by the exploration of these questions among many others and Marçal should be applauded for the way she is able to take dense information and research and communicate it in a way that is fresh, interesting, relevant, and easily grasped. This non-fiction book is a deep dive into the development of the modern-day economy and looks inquisitively at the role that gender has played. Marçal takes her readers on a journey of discovery that will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about innovation, industrialization, and will show you how it has been heavily influenced by society's understanding of male versus female attributes and how those attributes should be monetized.
I would recommend this book to any woman who could benefit from a deeper understanding of why her contributions to the economy are deemed less valuable than men's (isn't that almost all of us?), to any college-aged student with a penchant for social reform and equality, and to anyone with an interest in how gender roles and ideas about masculinity and femininity have shaped our lives.
As shown by my five-star rating, I loved this book and what it had to offer and I hope that it becomes a cultural must-read.
A huge thank you to the author and to NetGalley for this ecopy that I so thoroughly enjoyed.