A Lab of One's Own

June 1, 2020

Colwell (b. 1934) is an internationally recognized microbiologist, marine expert, and authority on cholera and infectious diseases. In her scientific career, Colwell has held many positions including director of the National Science Foundation and president and chairman of CosmosID, as well as holding professorships at the University of Maryland, College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. In this compelling memoir, Colwell describes her sinuous path to the top, which included some detours to avoid entrenched sexism. She ultimately ended up implementing multidisciplinary and technology-enhanced science long before this approach was popular. Along the way, she met others who also encountered sexism within science; she shares her own personal experiences, along with ones that other women have faced throughout their careers. Colwell recounts her efforts to expand opportunities for women who were once in her position. She shares ideas on what remains to be done to open opportunities, and credits coauthor McGrayne (The Theory That Would Not Die) for her ongoing guidance. VERDICT Colwell's forthright memoir is an inspiring read for women embarking on a career or experiencing career challenges. The book is also a must-read for those in higher education seeking to support women in S.T.E.M.--Beth Dalton, Littleton, CO

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2020
One of the world's most successful scientists reveals how systemic sexism in science has suppressed women and undercut scientific progress--but she is confident that positive change lies ahead. In this beautifully written memoir, Colwell, a leading microbiologist whose many accolades include being the first female director of the National Science Foundation, exposes "a deep-seated bias against women in science [that] has been documented at almost every level, from Nobel Prize winners down to undergraduates." While readers may not be surprised to learn that science is a male-dominated field, the stories the author recounts from her decades of experience as a researcher, educator, society president, and entrepreneur are shocking in their scope. She describes men wielding gender as a weapon and rigging the scientific system of recognition and reward against women based on unfounded theories of inferior intelligence and ability. One male professor told her, "we don't waste fellowships on women" and that "the only degree you're going to get is in the maternity ward of a hospital." Rather than capitulate, Colwell persevered and achieved unrivaled success. In deliberate and often captivating prose, she describes time after time when she created opportunities for herself and for her female peers and students. She also tells the stories of other women whose determination, insight, and talent helped to chip away at the glass ceiling. "In the dozen years after my presidency [1984-1985]," she writes, "six women...became presidents of [the American Society for Microbiology]--more women presidents than the society had ever had before." Colwell's unshakeable belief that "more women equals better science" shaped her historic tenure at the NSF and informs her concluding chapter, a motivating collection of tips for aspiring scientists. Colwell's grit and brilliance shine through on every page of the book, which is as much a call to arms as it is autobiography. An unforgettable tell-all that's rife with details of insurrection, scientific breakthrough, and overcoming the odds.

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August 1, 2020
An award-winning microbiologist whose work has spanned cholera eradication, biological warfare, and oil spill clean-ups, Colwell reveals the myriad barriers she has faced as a woman pursuing a career in science: dismissive teachers, misogynistic workplaces, appropriated research, sexual harassment. Born in 1932 to Italian immigrants, she's excelled in academia, the private sector, and as the Director of the National Science Institute. Her anecdote-filled stories are engaging, and she shares how she has persevered, occasionally manipulating the system to circumvent implicit anti-female bias and navigate white, male-oriented STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine) environments. She is generous in her praise of colleagues both male and female who have helped her, and recounts her efforts to provide opportunities for women and other marginalized populations (immigrants, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community). She offers words of encouragement and practical tips for aspiring scientists, and maintains that women have always played crucial roles in the advancement of science. Thanks to pioneering advocates like her, many more important contributions will be legitimized.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

August 24, 2020
Colwell (Vibrio Ecology, Pathogenesis and Evolution), first female director of the National Science Foundation, delivers a well-intentioned but disappointing career memoir. She describes facing institutional sexism as a student in the 1960s and how, despite it, she amassed an impressive resume in academe, government, and the private sector. Some of her experiences make for potentially enjoyable stories, such as the research she conducted into cholera transmission at a remote research station in Bangladesh in 1976, which resulted in her developing “new theories about how contagious diseases propagate, how weather patterns and climate change can affect them, and how space satellites can predict epidemics.” Elsewhere, she describes how, as a member of the CIA’s Intelligence Science Board during the ’90s, she urged fellow board members to take the threat of bioterrorism seriously, a warning that proved prescient when anthrax-laced letters were delivered throughout the country in 2001. Unfortunately, these and other triumphs are rendered in a stilted writing style, and Colwell’s undeniably impressive track record is marred by excess self-praise. Young women considering careers in science may profit from reading about her experiences, but other readers need not apply.