Books

The following books may be useful to teachers exploring the topic of culture, gender, and science in more depth:

• • Rossiter, M. W. (1982). Women scientists in America: Struggles and strategies to 1940 (Vol. 1). JHU Press.

  • Amott, T. L., & Matthaei, J. A. (1996). Race, gender, and work: A multi-cultural economic history of women in the United States. South End Press.

  • Chang, L. (Ed.). (2000). Scientists at Work: Profiles of Today's Groundbreaking Scientists from Science Times, The New York Times. McGraw-Hill Companies.

  • This covers modern-day scientists and thus would be excellent to provide current role-models to students. Especially interesting is the inclusion of Temple Grandin (an agricultural scientist with autism) and Gary Larson (an artist-scientist).

High-school level books which could be used as independent reading in a science class or integrated into the curriculum. These could also be used in a cross-disciplinary setting where the science in the book is discussed in biology while the book is analyzed in English class.

• May Chinn: The best medicine -- about one of the first Native American female doctors in the United States

• Temple Grandin: how the girl who loved cows embraced autism and changed the world -- Books about (or by) Temple Grandin are all excellent reads. She is a scientist with autism, and she is able to see problems in new ways. Her most famous work is with cows in slaughterhouses. She understands why and when cows get frightened, and she is able to make a safer, calmer slaughterhouse for cows so that they will move through naturally. Studying her would work well in units about animal behavior.