A Lab of One's Own: Science and Suffrage in the First World War - Hardcover

Patricia Fara lectures in the history of science at Cambridge University, where she is a Fellow of Clare College. She is the President of the British Society for the History of Science (2016-18) and her prize-winning book, Science: A Four Thousand Year History (OUP, 2009), has been translated into nine languages. In addition to many academic publications, her popular works include Newton: The Making of Genius, An Entertainment for Angels, Sex, Botany and Empire, and more. An experienced public lecturer, Patricia Fara appears regularly in TV documentaries and radio programs such as In Our Time. She also contributes articles and reviews to many journals, including History Today, BBC History, New Scientist, Nature and the Times Literary Supplement.

"An urgent and absorbing tale. Fara's impassioned yet rigorous work never falters or compromises in its search for a history that is both true and continues to matter a very great deal." -- Charlotte Sleigh, Professor of Science Humanities, University of Kent and author of The Paper Zoo: 500 Years of Art and Science

"Fascinating... [Patricia Fara] has uncovered the hidden, suppressed histories of scientists and clinicians who made great contributions to war and welfare, and she has woven a broader narrative of gain and loss that still resonates today." -- Jeremy Sanders, Former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge

"The stories in this book made me very happy that I came of age in the middle of the 20th century, when the world of science welcomed a woman's questions and valued her experiments." -- Maxine F. Singer

"A book full of fascinating insight and anecdote about women working in or with science around the time of the 1st World War. So many hidden stories and amazing heroines." -- Dame Athene Donald

"Fara vividly recounts the experiences of the educated, capable women who stepped into men's jobs as chemists, cryptographers, statisticians, meteorologists, and doctors. She tells this remarkable tale with intelligence and verve." -- Publishers Weekly

"A densely written, well-documented history of the British experience that will resonate with American women as well." -- KIRKUS

"An engrossing, exciting tale of uncelebrated scientists who innovated and experimented against a background of grand historical events." -- New York Times

"Vividly and movingly, A Lab Of One's Own, brings to life the forgotten story of the scientific, mathematical, medical and technological contributions made by British women during the First World War, with legacies and lessons that still matter today. Patricia Fara deserves a medal." -- Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Leeds

"Fara has composed a worthy and lasting tribute to these pioneering women."- Foreign Affairs