Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize

In her Improbable Warriors:   Women Scientists and the U.S. Navy in World War II, Kathleen Broome Williams highlights a little studied chapter in the history of women in science:   women's contributions to war.   Skillfully weaving individual biographies into broad cultural and political contexts, Williams focuses on the achievements of four exceptional women­Mary Sears, in charge of oceanographic intelligence; Florence van Straten, meteorologist who analyzed the use of weather in combat; Grace Murray Hopper, computer scientist who developed the first universal computer language COBOL; and Mina Spiegel Reese, the only woman on the Applied Mathematics Panel.   Carefully researched and compelling, Williams' Improbable Warriors adds significantly to our understanding of gender-­and specifically the role marital status can play­-in the professional and scientific workplace.   Much of what we read here resonates with issues surrounding women's standing in military science today: As a North Carolina newspaper commented in 1944 with reference to the Navy's attempt to recruit women, "Men Still Direct the Show."

Londa Schiebinger, Chair, Elizabeth Lunbeck, Fernando Vidal