The Exceptions
Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science
1 of 2 copies available
As late as 1999, women who succeeded in science were called "exceptional" as if it were unusual for them to be so bright. They were exceptional, not because they could succeed at science but because of all they accomplished despite the hurdles.
"Gripping...one puts down the book inspired by the women's grit, tenacity, and brilliance." —Science
"Riveting." —Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene
In 1963, a female student was attending a lecture given by Nobel Prize winner James Watson, then tenured at Harvard. At nineteen, she was struggling to define her future. She had given herself just ten years to fulfill her professional ambitions before starting the family she was expected to have. For women at that time, a future on the usual path of academic science was unimaginable—but during that lecture, young Nancy Hopkins fell in love with the promise of genetics. Confidently believing science to be a pure meritocracy, she embarked on a career.
In 1999, Hopkins, now a noted molecular geneticist and cancer researcher at MIT, divorced and childless, found herself underpaid and denied the credit and resources given to men of lesser rank. Galvanized by the flagrant favoritism, Hopkins led a group of sixteen women on the faculty in a campaign that prompted MIT to make the historic admission that it had long discriminated against its female scientists. The sixteen women were a formidable group: their work has advanced our understanding of everything from cancer to geology, from fossil fuels to the inner workings of the human brain. And their work to highlight what they called "21st-century discrimination"—a subtle, stubborn, often unconscious bias—set off a national reckoning with the pervasive sexism in science.
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who broke the story, The Exceptions chronicles groundbreaking science and a history-making fight for equal opportunity. It is the "excellent and infuriating" (The New York Times) story of how this group of determined, brilliant women used the power of the collective and the tools of science to inspire ongoing radical change. And it offers an intimate look at the passion that drives discovery, and a rare glimpse into the competitive, hierarchical world of elite science—and the women who dared to challenge it.
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Creators
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Release date
February 28, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781797137155
- File size: 417978 KB
- Duration: 14:30:47
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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November 21, 2022
Journalist Zernike (Boiling Mad: Inside the Tea Party) paints an inspiring portrait of MIT molecular biologist Nancy Hopkins and 15 other female scientists who pushed the university to acknowledge in 1999 a long-standing pattern of discrimination against women on its science faculty. In 1973, when Hopkins arrived at MIT as an assistant professor, the institution flaunted its sole female full professor, physicist Millie Dresselhaus, “as the emblem for what all women could be at MIT, and in science.” Twenty-one years later, women made up less than 8% of the faculty in the School of Science. Zernike movingly details how Hopkins, after enduring years of slights and mistreatment while conducting important genetic research, began reaching out to her female colleagues, who were eager to share their own stories of discrimination. They persuaded the dean of science to back their case for a Committee on Women Faculty, which compiled a devastating report on how women in the science departments had been marginalized. Striking an expert balance between the big picture and intimate profiles of the women involved, Zernike offers an intriguing and often infuriating glimpse into the rarefied world of higher education. Readers will be fascinated. Agent: Elyse Cheney, Cheney Agency. -
June 10, 2024
New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Zernike (Boiling Mad) details the life of MIT molecular biologist Nancy Hopkins, who spoke out against the discrimination she and other women at the institution experienced. Hopkins began a life in science in 1963, spurred on by James Watson's fascinating presentation of his discovery of the double helix. Though women were a minority in the sciences in 1973, Hopkins joined the biology faculty at MIT, where she was paid less, given less space, and offered fewer opportunities than her colleagues who were men. Evidence of discrimination mounted, and when she consulted with other women at MIT, she found that her situation was not unique. She and 15 other women scientists at MIT petitioned the university president to conduct an investigation; in 1999, the institution admitted guilt and became a leader in rectifying the situation for women scientists. Sadly, as the author points out in her epilogue, the fight for equality is not over. Narrator Kathe Mazur presents the story in a calm, straightforward manner that lends credibility to the story. VERDICT An inspiring story. Essential listening for researchers, students, administrators, and anyone interested in the influence of women in science and academia.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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