Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie
Author of Women in Science: Antiquity through Nineteenth Century A Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography
About the Author
Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, now retired, is formerly a professor of the history of science and curator of the History of Science Collections at the University of Oklahoma. She is the author of Searching the Stars: The Story of Caroline Herschel and Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth show more Century; the editor of The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists; and the coeditor (with Joy Dorothy Harvey) of The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science. show less
Image credit: Curator of the University of Oklahoma's History of Science Collection, historian of women in science
Works by Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie
Women in Science: Antiquity through Nineteenth Century A Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography (1986) 39 copies
The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century (2000) 9 copies
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That might be the motto of this collection of biographies. This is a biographical dictionary of scientists, but casual readers beware: It's about the science itself far more than it is about the people. Scientists, after all, are quirky, and many of them had lively lives outside of the lab. You won't see much of that here -- this isn't the place to learn (e.g.) that Marie Curie was a strongly depressive autistic who, as a widow, had an affair with a scientist five years her junior. Or about Albert Einstein's illegitimate son. Or Isaac Newton's rages.
And -- guess what -- that can be good. The biographies here are almost like a bibliography of work done, which is what really matters about scientists. Oh, the personal stuff would be fun, too -- but the book is already huge. There wouldn't be room for that in a reasonable space.
It does mean that, if you really want to find out about any particular scientist -- even a very important one -- you'll need a different sort of reference. But that's all right. Within its limits, this is an excellent book, thorough, readable, and well-researched.… (more)