Review by Ian Keogh

Claire Forrest begins with the assertion that not enough credit is given to women who’ve been scientific pioneers, and goes on to make her point very persuasively via an A to Z format. The alphabetical listing is of topics rather than by name (although sometimes they coincide), making it easier to spotlight trailblazers, and only around a third of the content is comics. Those comics provide stories of women currently working in predominantly male industries talking about their feelings and experiences. As described here, the combination may seem out of place, but in book form there’s no question of that as alphabetical pages merge seamlessly with the comics, providing greater exploration of some trades.

The overall credits aren’t entirely clear, but the most logical breakdown is Forrest writing the comics and providing the illustrations, underneath which the text is the responsibility of Fiona Gordon and Kate Livingston. The illustrations are thoughtfully and decoratively composed, each featuring a cartoon portrait of a woman surrounded by a design relevant to their work.

A rather distressing pattern emerges via the 26 women historically spotlighted. Many worked alongside men who either took the credit, or to whom credit was naturally accorded, and others were ignored for far too long before eventually being proved right. A few stories such as Russian factory worker Valentina Tereshkova applying to be an astronaut and sailing through the assessment process are the exception. However, while many may not have received credit during their lives, historical research has been setting a lot of records straight.

The Mighty Women of Science is pitched at a young adult level, and intended as inspirational reading in a society where even today too many women’s life and career options are limited.