Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict tells the story of Rosalind Franklin, an unsung hero of science who braved the storm of gender bias to map the structure of DNA, despite constant harassment and undermining in the late 1940s and 1950s. As an X-ray crystallographer, Franklin battled not only the complexities of scientific discovery but also the demeaning attitudes of her male colleagues in academia. Despite her pivotal contributions, the theft of her work shadowed her achievements by other scientists who later won a Nobel Prize. Benedict, who has a knack for bringing the stories of overlooked women in history to light, paints Franklin as a tenacious and intelligent trailblazer. […]
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The River We Remember
“Our lives and the lives of those we love merge to create a river whose current carries us forward from our beginning to our end. Because we are only one part of the whole, the river each of us remembers is different, and there are many versions of the stories we tell about our past.”–William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember. William Kent Krueger has done it again with The River We Remember, a captivating mystery set in the heart of small-town Minnesota. Set on Memorial Day 1958, the story opens with the discovery of the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn in the Alabaster River, dead from a […]
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Lessons in Chemistry
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a captivating story that combines science, romance, and a search for equality in the early 1960s. The story follows chemist Elizabeth Zott, who faces challenges working with an all-male team at Hastings Research Institute. Elizabeth falls in love with her colleague, has his child, and is fired due to double standards and scandal around her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Her career takes an unexpected turn when she becomes the host of a popular daytime cooking show, Supper at Six, which introduces a revolutionary approach to cooking. The novel introduces readers to a quirky protagonist and a colorful cast of characters, including the intelligent dog, Six-Thirty, […]
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