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Meet the fabulous Boole sisters, and the "flying feminist" Lilian Bland, who was probably the first woman in the world to build and fly a plane. Physicist Alice Everett was among the first people researching television technology in the late 1920s. A type of diamond is named after Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, whose work revealed the structure of many chemical compounds. Mathematician Kay McNulty worked on the ENIAC computer during World War II, helping to inaugurate the field of modern computer programming. Dr Dorothy Price introduced the BCG vaccine to Ireland, and saved hundreds of lives from TB. And a trio of women professors who headed up UCD science departments in the 1960s.

Just some of the Irishwomen who, over the last 150 years, have led the way, many of them in non-traditional careers and often fighting institutionalised discrimination, yet going on to achieve national and international recognition. From 19^th-century amateurs to 20^th-century professors, their stories will inspire you.

A companion volume to Stars, Shells and Bluebells (WITS, 1997), and presented in the same easy to read style and attractive manner, with numerous contemporary illustrations and photographs, and an introductory foreword and chapter to set the context.

Authors: include broadcaster Éanna ní´Lamhna, author and mathematician Prof Des MacHale, science writers Claire O'Connell and Karlin Lillington, as well as academic subject experts and historians.

About the editor: Mary Mulvihill is an award-winning science writer and broadcaster. She edited the companion volume, Stars, Shells and Bluebells (1997), and her own books include Ingenious Ireland (2002), and Drive like a Woman, Shop like a Man (2009), a guide to sustainable living.

Contents: Foreword; the 19^th-century: 1. "Laurels for fair as well as manly brows"; 2. ˜The glorious privilege"; 3. First in their field; 4. Erratics, intrusions and graptolites; 5. The fabulous Boole sisters; 6. Torch-bearing women astronomers. The 20th Century: 7. Revolutionary doctors; 8. Anatomy of a bog body; 9. An inspiring zoologist; 10. Queen of the plant viruses; 11. The doyenne of Irish chemistry; 12. The stuff of diamonds; 13. One of the world's first computer programmers. 

Audience: General, second-level, women's studies, history of science

WITS (Women in Technology & Science), Dublin www.witsireland.com

ISBN 978-0-9531953-1-2

pbk 200pp, 57 illustrations, RRP €20 March 2009

Media queries: For further information CONTACT:  Anne Mac Lellan 087 6155338

Women in Technology and Science (WITS) is a voluntary association,
founded in 1990, to actively promote women's participation in science,
engineering and technology (SET), through initiatives in schools,
higher education, national and European levels.  WITS also provide a
support and information network for women members, and runs role model
days for young girls.