Rachel Ignotofsky

Exhaustive and enlightening—don’t miss it.

This is one of the books we’ve been waiting for—a compendium of great women athletes and the struggles they faced. As Billie Jean King taught us, ‘Pressure is a privilege.’

This luminescent book tells the stories of women and girls who have not only excelled in athletics, but also often changed the world by doing so. I was agog at these lively biographies, and dazzled by the accompanying illustrations that seem to cartwheel, swim, pole vault, and double flip off the page. This is a book for girls who want inspiration on the field, in the pool, or down the track. It’s also for girls who aren’t sporty at all, but love stories of courage, perseverance, sass, doggedness, and fun. And don’t forget the boys, who will be riveted by these rollicking tales and who need to see that girl power has been alive and well for many years, and is alive and well today.

Rachel Ignotofsky’s delightful book renders the healthy pleasure of sports for girls and women in buoyant color and form—from Bloomer Girls to Skate Bettys, in calf length skirts or disguised as men—reminding us that no matter if you are nine or ninety-eight, the question to ask is, ‘What is my next victory?’

What an inspiring book! These beautifully drawn portraits cover the triumphs and troubles of fifty athletes—some you’ve heard of and many you haven’t. There’s a familiar pattern to these stories: A woman sets her mind on something, someone tells her it can’t be done, and she goes ahead and does it anyway, setting records along the way. You’ll cheer for these ladies, and for author Rachel Ignotofsky.

In this wittily illustrated, accessible volume, Rachel Ignotofsky highlights 50 women who changed the course of science.

With the help of eye-catching artwork, Ignotofsky celebrates not just astronauts, but also the engineers, biologists, mathematicians, and physicists who’ve blazed a trail for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields from the ancient to modern world. The book elevates this information with beautiful and instructive infographics that delve into topics like the number of women currently working in STEM fields.

With short, inspiring stories and the accessibility of a graphic novel. . .the perfect book to share with the science- and tech-minded people (male and female, young and old) in your life. . . .The must-read, girl-power STEM book.

This book of illustrated biographies of scientific pioneers is hands-down gorgeous. . . .Kids will love paging through this, looking at all the detailed drawings, but they’ll likely have to rip it out of the hands of the adults who are marveling at each new page of factoids.

The book is a beautifully curated collection of personal narratives from female scientists from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines, with a dash of whimsy thrown in.

I applaud Ignotofsky and her publisher for telling these important stories about women through such a rich, visual medium. The world needs more books like this.

. . .an illustrated homage to some of the most influential and inspiring women in STEM. . . .Ignotofsky captures the heartbreaking inequalities that only amplify the impressiveness of these women’s feats.

. . .a clever introduction to women scientists through history.

True fact: This book is so cool that I had to go steal it back from my fifth-grade daughter to review it. . . .this book perfectly balances well-researched facts with gorgeous, whimsical illustrations making it a favorite you just can’t put down.”

If there were constellations celebrating the incredible accomplishments of women in science, Rachel Ignotofsky’s illustrations would serve as the blueprints. As Ignotofsky floats NASA computer programmer and mathematician Annie Easley amid rockets and stars, surrounds Higgs boson discoverer Sau Lan Wu with particles, and cradles Barbara McClintock with corn and chromosomes, she anchors her dreamy depictions into our brains. Women in Science captures the joy of so many essential discoveries while also celebrating the extraordinary lives of the women who’ve achieved them.

I wish I had a daughter so I could give her a copy of Rachel Ignotofsky’s lovingly illustrated Women in Science. In addition to Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, and Ada Lovelace, the book profiles dozens of less familiar female scientists—African American, Asian, Jewish, Russian, French, in stylish dresses, lab coats, trousers, spacesuits, shorts—whose accomplishments in astronomy, physics, mathematics, biology, psychology, and computer science came as news even to me. Ignotofsky provides young women with the courage and confidence to follow the exciting paths these pioneers have blazed before them.

Women in Science is a comprehensive and stunningly illustrated tribute to brilliant female minds. Through real stories of perseverance and passion, Rachel Ignotofsky affirms the important role of women in shaping humankind’s scientific journey. The book offers the next generation of young women a diverse set of relatable and enormously inspiring role models.

In Rachel Ignotofsky’s edifying and inspiring book we meet some of history’s most remarkable women. Each profile contains extraordinary stories of obstacles and achievements. The drawings float on the pages’ dark backgrounds, making each figure appear to hover in the sky like a constellation. That’s what the reader is doing in this book: stargazing.

Paired with her delightfully whimsical drawings, the concise and accessible profiles of women scientists in Rachel Ignotofsky’s book reveal the setbacks faced by women in male-dominated scientific careers and show how these women cared deeply about making the world—and the world of science—a more equal place. With its enthusiastic tone and its colorful layout, this inviting introduction to women in science urges its readers to take advantage of their education and to participate in scientific discoveries of their own.

This charming encyclopedia includes a page of text and a fanciful drawing of the women scientists you’ve heard of — and plenty who you haven’t! The book has good coverage of the 1800s and early 1900s — a critical time when women’s expanding participation in science was changing the very structure of how knowledge is pursued.  Interspersed with gems like a colorful timeline of women’s achievements, and a cartoon celebrating a wonderful hoard of lab supplies, Ignotofsky’s profiles of diverse female scientists is a great addition to the shelf of any student, of any age.