As a woman in STEM, I was really looking forward to reading Sisters in Science.

In 1930s Germany, four female pioneers in physics must escape when, under Nazi rule, Germany is no longer safe for these women. It's an important story, based on the stories of four incredible women, that is a testament to the resilience, perseverance, and bravery of some of history's most important people.

I did struggle at times with the structure of the narrative, particularly where it was heavy on the scientific terminology. I feel it could have been edited a little more - both shorter and more accessible for non-scientists - to make the narrative more effective. With that said, I learned a lot and eventually enjoyed how each storyline was resolved.

I'd say this one is more targeted towards avid historical fiction readers who also have a background or particular interest in science and physics. It might be too technical for the average romance historical fiction reader but would be better appreciated by the former.

Fascinating book accounting the escape from Nazi Germany of four female physics scientists. In the 1930s female scientists, scholars, researchers and professors were fighting for jobs, pay and positions. Then the Nazis turned everything upside down and these women scrambled for their lives to escape. Well-researched and well told book.

In this incredible biography of Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stucklen, Olivia CAmpbell brings their work in physics, their struggle against sexism in the workplace, and their struggles against the Nazi regime as Jewish women academics with strong anti-Nazi sentiments to life. Giving them the historical spotlight they deserve, she tracks their academic careers and journeys out of Germany to Sweden and the United States while also following how they revolutionized the field of physics in the first half of the twentieth century. Excellently written and full of historical detail, Campbell highlights their differences and their similarities while also drawing out the connections and relationships between these four brilliant and capable women. A fascinating and unknown side of the rise of the Nazi party and the institutional challenges women faced in academia, the book does a brilliant job compiling a ton of historical information in an incredibly engaging and readable way. Absolutely fascinating and a must-read for anyone interested in women’s history, history of science, or World War II history, Campbell’s new book is complicated, immersive, and detailed. Her prose is straightforward, readable, and engaging, and this fantastic new book is a great addition to the women’s history canon.

This is simply one of the best and most important nonfiction books I have ever read.

WHO WHAT WHERE: Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen, some of the first women physicists are forced to give up their academia in means to flee Nazi Germany in an already tough time for women in science.

MY THOUGHTS: Wow. If my headline didn't catch you that this is an extremely important novel then I'm telling you again now. These women don't have the recognition they deserve for their achievements in physics - often finding the solution from miles away. Books like Sisters in Science, give them their recognition and give them even more respect knowing they achieved these unfathomable accomplishments (maybe unless you work in physics!) in unfathomable circumstances.

These women worked with some of the top names we all know in science : Einstein, Bohr, Oppenheimer... were part of Nobel Prize winning discoveries ... but didn't get recognition or credit simply because they were women. We all know of the men who published the discoveries but at a time where women scientists were often limited to botany or zoology, their intelligence was left to often being unpaid and unheard of.

This fluidily bounced between the four stories of some of the first women physicists: Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen. Sometimes the physics descriptions went over my head but no kidding it did!!! These women were so freaking smart!!! This book built the anxieties each of the women were trying to get work outside of Germany- which for a woman in academics led to be near impossible, Campbell demonstrated the loyalty of this science community in Germany (those that didn't side with the Nazi's)... Everyone who believed in these women, did everything they could to help their colleagues escape. Not everyone was able to escape and Campbell acknowledged them and their contributions as well. The other side of this was also represented with male scientists who wouldn't allow these women into their labs or schools in the first place.

I think one of the most significant moments in this book is that when Lise Meitner discovers nuclear fission and realizes it's true terrors ... she never wished for it to do that damage, wished for it to help in medicine .... instead it was used to unleash horrors on Japan and the world. War is a nasty place, science should be used for good. That's what most of them want. I think I could talk about all of the points in this book forever but this was significant in so many factors... These women persevered into breaking into the world of academia and escaping world war II and still creating incredible breakthroughs in science.

Apologies if this is all over the place! Thank you to HarperCollins and Net Galley for sending me this ARC! #NetGalley #HarperCollins #HiveInfluencer

This was SUCH an engaging book. I have read so many books about this time period, but following 4 women scientists as they escape the Nazis was new for me.

Campbell does such a great job of brining you into the stories of these women. You really feel the fear and intensity of the time, and what might have happened if these women had not been able to escape.

I definitely think this is a book to check out! There is still so much to learn about this time in history, and I really feel like I did while reading this book.

This book tells the story of four brilliant female physicists—Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen—forced to flee Nazi Germany. Their harrowing escapes and subsequent contributions to physics, despite facing discrimination, highlight the power of perseverance and scientific curiosity.

This book is less about science and more about Nazis than I expected. Compelling and compassionate, the book is thoroughly researched and brilliantly written. The audiobook narration adds to the enjoyment of the book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This nonfiction book documents the stories of four female scientists and their efforts to flee Germany during World War II. Honestly, the blurb makes it sound like an exciting adventure, but it doesn’t really read that way. The book follows Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen. Lise ends up in Sweden, but the others eventually end up in the United States. They are all physicists with revolutionary research.

I started reading the ebook but eventually switched to the audiobook to finish. The audio is narrated by Cassandra Campbell. This is my second listen to this narrator, and I thought she did a fine job with what I found to be rather dry material.

I’ve seen a few complaints that it was too science heavy, but I didn’t find it so. At times over my head a bit, but my brother is the physicist and I’m more familiar with geology. I found the accounts confusing at times since the book jumped around between stories. While the women were all different, there were common threads of political and academic bureaucracy as well as misogyny, sexism, and racism, specifically the oppression of women as well as Jews in all of their stories, and as each individual’s experiences were related, at times, gave a strong sense of repetitiveness, also adding to my confusion.

I think these stories are important, but this may not be the one for you depending on your interests. I would recommend it to those that are interested in the history of how professional individuals and specifically women in academia went through the process of immigration or seeking refugee status during this time period.

Thank you to Netgalley, The Hive, Park Row Books, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Harlequin Audio for a copy provided for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced readers copy

Nonfiction books can be very difficult to craft into a gripping and readable "story" to keep readers engaged. This book does a decent job of that, but is a bit dry in places because of the content being discussed at that time.

It is an important book to shed a brighter light on these women scientists that were not given their time in the spotlight during their research or their lives. Women scientists were not given credit in the mid 20th century, because it was a man's world. This is a huge slap in the face for these ladies who trained so hard and put in the time to make these discoveries.

Thank you to Olivia Campbell for highlighting the important discoveries these women made and bringing their struggle into print as well

This is such a well researched and unique story. This follows female, Jewish scientists as they try to get out of Germany during WWII. These ladies have to depend on the science community to help get them to safety. And believe me…it is not easy. As with most books set in this time period, it is emotional. But I have to give kudos to the author for the research and the subject. As I said before, very unique!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

It took me a bit longer to get through Sisters in Science, due to rereading and at times Googling terms and such that were beyond my comprehension.

The book itself was fascinating and filled with information I knew nothing about until now. I feel like students and non students alike should pick up and educate themselves on these brave intellectual woman .

The book itself is a slower, heavier read, but well researched and written in a manner that makes reading enjoyable.

When the Nazis came to power, many people had to fear for their safety, their careers and of course, their lives. This book tells the story of some of the Jewish women who had finally broken into the male dominated world of science, but because of their gender and religion, were fired from their roles at labs and universities when the Nazis held power. Some of them escaped to Sweden or the US and their contributions to science were numerous and integral to the physics world, but then because of their gender, the world didn’t learn of them and many of their contributions were attributed to the men who were happy to take the accolades.

A few things kept going through my mind as I read this - if you base your policies on hate, your country will eventually fail, beginning with the moral corruption. Germany was so fixated on ridding itself of Jews and other enemies of the state and making sure women became mothers and not academics that it was blind as to what it was giving up - they basically gave the US all of the scientific breakthroughs that otherwise would have occurred in Germany/Austria (like nuclear fission). As a nonfiction book I thought it would be a little dry, but in general the style of the writing kept me interested most of the time (I may have skimmed over some of the physics stuff) and she did a really great job of showing the moral failures of the entire world at the time. I think this is an important book to show what amazing things people can still accomplish even when the world seems to be against them.

Thank you to Park Row Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

SISTERS IN SCIENCE details the lives of Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen, four women who were forced to leave their homes, their research and livelihoods due to Hitler’s regime. It wasn’t enough that these four intelligent physicists were already facing sexism and working below their educated talents, but now with Hitler’s takeover, they were also being discriminated against because they were Jewish.

Many scientists and foundations from all over the world had to band together to get these four women to safety and it wasn’t easy. At times, this book reads like a thrilling novel as you are taken along on Lise’s train ride to Sweden or Hedwig’s numerous roadblocks to her leaving Germany. However, as thrilling as it was in spots, it does take a bit to get into this story.

Since I am the farthest thing from a scientist, I have to admit that a lot of the physics conversations in the book went WAY over my head. I didn’t understand much of what these women were working on, but what I did understand was the constant sexism and semitism that they faced as well as the fear and uncertainty that each of them had if they couldn’t find a way out of Germany. Unfortunately, these are things people are still facing in the workplace today nearly 100 years later. These scientists were paid drastically less, weren’t allowed to be professors (only high school teachers), and couldn’t have their own labs (they had to work under a male scientist). But, without their research and perseverance to continue their work, many scientific problems would not be answered today.

“‘What will our soldiers think when they return to the university and find that they are required to learn at the feet of a woman?’ the faculty demanded.”

Aside from the story of the women’s lives, WWI and eventually WWII are raging in the background. The author creates a timeline of sorts of Hitler’s regime and the creation of the various concentration camps interspersed with the lives of these female scientists to create an urgency to their situation. While trying to save these scientists seemed like such a monumental task, male Jewish scientists like Einstein were easily transported to safer places like the US. Especially, when these women were coming up with solutions to just as important problems as the men were, sometimes alongside them.

“Just as the goal of the darkness is to snuff out the light, the goal of the Nazis was to snuff out anyone who wasn’t a straight, able-bodied member of their invented master race-as well as anyone who stood in the way of that goal…The Nazis considered your ancestry in their calculations of intolerance, not your religious practices. So, while making scientific history, Lise was also frantically searching for a way to make it out of Nazi Germany alive.”

Olivia Campbell’s extensive research and attention to detail make sure that the lives of these women and their struggles are remembered and honored. Her extensive bibliography and end notes are proof of her diligent fact-checking which must have taken years to collect and write. I think these women would be proud to know another woman took the time and effort to record their history.

These four brilliant scientists never lost hope even when they were forced to rely on friends, acquaintances, strangers, and other countries to save them. Each of their situations was desperate and if not for the monetary interventions and monumental plans to save them, they would not have made it out of Germany alive. I won’t try to explain their contributions to science but know that their discoveries made a huge difference. If you can wade through the extensive scientific details, this is a fascinating book.

"Sisters in Science" was an okay read. It's well-researched with interesting history, but the book wasn't particularly engaging.

This book shares the stories of four German scientists from the start of their careers to their escape from Nazi Germany and their lives after the war. To put it simply, each story is a remarkable read. From blatant misogyny to actual legal obstacles, achieving a degree in any scientific field as a woman in the early 20th century was a feat in itself. When the Nazis took power, even more restrictions are put on the women forcing all four (two of them Jewish) to flee. These stories offer hope as these are the women who survived thanks not only to their own strength and courage but also hundreds of people who worked together to give these women the job offers, money, and transportation arrangements needed to escape. Even though the story of these four women ends with their survival, it makes the dedication even more poignant:

“This book is dedicated to all the women academics murdered by the Nazis. Their absence haunts this book; the rippling impact of their loss affects us all. May their memories be a blessing and remind us of the importance of fighting fascism and unfettered hatred in all its forms.”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Park Row Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

“This book is dedicated to all the women academics murdered by the Nazis. Their absence haunts this book; the rippling impact of their loss affects us all. May their memories be a blessing and remind us of the importance of fighting fascism and unfettered hatred in all its forms.”

Though I’m not an expert, I thought I knew a lot about Nazi Germany, WWII, and the Holocaust, but I learned so many things from this book! As my one and only nonfiction read/review of the year, this was a great pick.

It had lots of primary sources and was clearly very well-researched. It’s incredibly informative and paints a very detailed picture of what women academics were facing in the 1930s-40s, worldwide but particularly in Germany. These extraordinary women already faced so much discrimination and challenges merely due to misogyny and sexism, but of course everything became that much worse once the Nazis took power. The book specifically follows the stories of Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen, who all had to eventually flee Nazi Germany and eventually settle in the United States due to being Jewish (or having Jewish ancestry), simply being women in academia, or being anti-Nazi. They lost their personal and professional connections, at least to a certain degree, and all experienced setbacks in their careers due to this forced exile.

I would love to read more about these women’s lives and accomplishments, because while this book did make me interested to know more, it wasn’t always the easiest to follow. While trying to do justice to all four biographies, it jumps around a bit, repeats things already discussed (which makes some sense because it’s now providing context for another person’s story, but still), and pads the four main women’s stories by jumping almost randomly to other people briefly and then jumping back. Especially with three of the four biographies following women whose names start with H, it was hard to keep things straight.

I also think I went in with unclear expectations. With a subtitle of “How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History,” I expected a bit more…excitement, I guess. Olivia Campbell starts by providing backstory on the women and the historical climate, which is necessary I’m sure, but that means we don’t actually get to the real rise of the Nazis until a quarter of the way through the book. While it was fascinating and heartbreaking to read all the great hardships these women suffered and all the many hoops they had to jump through to enter academia, build their careers, and then ensure their own survival, we don’t get to the real nail-biter I was expecting from a book about “escaping Nazi Germany” until almost halfway through.

Then there’s the scientific parts. I guess I didn’t realize going into this how much actual science would be discussed, which is probably silly on my part since it is about women making *scientific* history. Truly, it makes sense that Olivia Campbell would need to explain the science behind their discoveries and accomplishments to truly demonstrate just how brilliant and groundbreaking the four women’s work was. But…it was really dry. I like science. I was pre-med for two years of university (long story, don’t ask). But I found myself only barely skimming a lot of those parts to get back to the more biographical sections.

So while this book wasn’t a perfect fit for me, I do think someone who enjoys scientific talk and the history of science, as well as is interested in WWII history and feminism, but who can taper their expectations regarding the “escape” parts of the book, I do think others would really enjoy it. And if nothing else, at least I now have lots more facts to whip out when I’m feeling a bit of feminine and/or antifascist rage coming on, like why I’m mad about the Nobel prize they gave Otto Hahn for nuclear fission and why I’ll never buy a Ford.

Read if you’re interested in:
History nonfiction
History of science
Physics
Nazi Germany & WWII
Feminism
Women in academia

Sisters in Science is a powerful and inspiring account of four extraordinary women—Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen—brilliant scientists forced to flee Nazi Germany as World War II loomed. While Kohn found refuge in Sweden, Meitner, Sponer, and Stücklen made their way to the United States, continuing their groundbreaking work in exile.
These remarkable women not only defied the oppressive regime that sought to silence them but also contributed immensely to their respective fields.
Olivia Campbell has crafted a meticulously researched and compelling narrative that is as informative as it is inspiring. The book balances depth with readability, maintaining a pace that keeps readers fully engaged.
Thank you so much to the Olivia Campbell, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is not at all what I thought it would be. I missed somewhere that it was nonfiction. However, it was a very interesting perspective on what happened in Nazi run Germany.

This book follows some women in science throughout the time that hitler was taking over and describes their journeys to ground breaking discoveries despite being persecuted for being Jewish or Jewish friendly. It also goes over how, in a male driven field, the women did not get the credit they deserved for these discoveries.

There is a lot of heavy statistics and science lingo throughout this book. It’s very well researched and very well put together. These women were scientific heroes of the time and yet we knew nothing about them. That in itself is tragic.

When I saw this book, I was immediately interested in reading it. I love reading untold stories of women throughout history and especially in STEM. This book goes back into the 1930s and we meet four women scientists. We follow them as they struggle to even be allowed at universities, and eventually must flee Germany and go to Sweden and the US.

“Silly girl. Didn’t she know that universities were for men? That math was for boys?”

These four women were brilliant scientists and their stories deserve to be told. They were strong and brave and their journey was so difficult.

I thought this book was really well researched and very detailed and the author doesn’t shy away from the horrors these women experienced. Some parts are hard to read, but I believe understanding our history (even the ugliest parts) is important.

If you enjoy reading about history and science, I would check this book out. This book does dive into the actual science behind their work, so you’ll probably learn a little something too!

It's one thing to know that the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews. But Campbell introduces us to abut a dozen
German women, pioneers in chemistry and physics, and the harrowing ordeals they endured in order to escape death at the Nazis' hands. These women first fought for the right to attend university and study in their chosen fields. Then they fought to be allowed to teach or do research, something that was extremely rare for women to achieve. Many worked under men who were openly misogynistic, and didn’t receive any credit for their discoveries.
But once the Nazis came to power, female and Jewish scientists in Germany were denied the right to work, or in the cases of Jewish women, the right to exist. Several international agencies worked to provide funds for intellectuals to emigrate from Germany, or offers of employment for them, but most agency efforts were directed toward men. Four German female scientists miraculously managed to emigrate—three of them to America, and one to Sweden. These are their stories.

As a reader of military history, I’ve already read quite a bit on the Nazis, Hitler’s rise to power, and World War II. I’d heard of Lise Meitner and had a vague outline of her accomplishments; I was aware that she had had to flee the Nazi pogroms. Sisters in Science offered the opportunity to find out more about her, and other women like her, so I jumped at the chance. And frankly, the publication of this book, given current events, is timely; there are lessons to be learned here.

Taken as a whole, Sisters in Science is a highly informative read on a few different fronts. It does fulfill its promise to familiarize the reader on Lise and other notable women in science, and their escape from the Nazis. It also offers an in-depth view of the scientific studies each of them pursued, looks at several other notable scientists – both men and women – and describes the state and progress of scientific research at the time.

There is a lot of fascinating stuff here, and for the most part it’s an interesting read as well. My only real problem with the book is that it takes a while for it to find its footing. The book first mentions concern over these women escaping fascism in the opening pages, in reference to Hedwig, though at that point it mentions only that the Nazis had her fired and her supporters were trying to arrange for her flight. Lise’s ancestry (and subsequent risk) is mentioned just before the beginning of section seven, or roughly ten percent of the book. And then the book makes no reference to the danger these women are in, or their efforts to escape, until around a quarter of the way through, when the author discusses Hitler’s election as Chancellor.

In the intervening pages there are several tangents to explain various scientific concepts, or historical facts (such as the education of women and the state of feminism). And while these are all important aspects of history and even pertinent to a certain degree, I felt them to be distractions that do not appreciably add to the discussion of the subject matter. My presumption is that the author is compensating for a reader who has zero knowledge of any of the topics being discussed in the book. In which case this may be the perfect book in terms of sharing knowledge, but it does make it disjointed and scattered for much of its beginning.

After the first quarter the book does flow much better. It still bounces around a fair bit as the author updates the reader on each of the scientists in turn, but it doesn’t feel so haphazard, and the last three quarters of the book is a pleasure to read.