A sharp indictment of male privilege and an urgent appeal for a more inclusive practice of science.
An insider’s portrayal of the many reasons why women are underrepresented in science.
Early in the book, Donald, emeritus professor of experimental physics and former Gender Equality Champion at the University of Cambridge, poses a wonderfully pointed question: “Can you think of a female scientist?” Many people can name only one: Marie Curie. This collective ignorance illustrates the numerous factors that discourage girls from pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Biosciences aside, women are “typically well below 50%” in the STEM disciplines. Even when they earn doctorates, they are less likely than men to continue or rise to senior positions in labs or at universities. “It isn’t ability that’s stopping them,” dampening their aspirations, and wasting their talents. Donald acknowledges some progress while noting the persistence of cultural attitudes that assume math is too difficult for girls, exclude stories of accomplished women scientists in textbooks and the mass media, and deny girls the toys that encourage scientific curiosity. In their careers, women encounter workplace harassment and find their ideas coopted by men. Support for having a family while staying sufficiently engaged in the field, moreover, is still inadequate. As the author points out, “domesticity remains widely seen as the woman’s preserve more than the man’s.” Donald dreams of a field that offers “opportunity for everybody to make career choices that are best for them, not what other people’s expectations force upon them.” Providing affordable child care, ensuring that women (and other minorities) are represented on hiring committees, and making career ladders more manageable will benefit women and enable a much-needed diversity of perspectives. Being a scientist also involves personal traits such as curiosity, confidence, and persistence. However, these traits are often defeated by institutional biases that thwart even the most dedicated girls and women.
A sharp indictment of male privilege and an urgent appeal for a more inclusive practice of science.Pub Date: May 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780192893406
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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