Zara Stone - The Future of Science Is Female: The Brilliant Minds Shaping the 21st Century (Gift for teenage girls 13-15)

Praise for The Future of Science Is Female

As Geena Davis says, If she can see it, she can be it. By focusing on women working to change the current world, Zara Stone has created an important book. The Future of Science Is Female will serve as inspirationnot only to young girls needing role models in science and technology, but to anyone who refuses to let society dictate what they should be doing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about the stories of these diverse ladies who will help to create our future.

Alicia Malone, author of Backwards and in Heels and The Female Gaze

If we want to encourage more girls to enter into science careers, we need to show females that this field was made for them to conquer. Zara Stones engaging narrative does just that by introducing readers to brilliant but relatable female role models who are using science to positively change our world.

Colleen Russo Johnson, PhD and chief scientist for Dream Studios Inc.

The Future of Science Is Female shows us that the future is happening now! Zara Stone will make you want to grab your lab coat and join the women making scientific her-story!

Kellie Gerardi, author of Not Necessarily Rocket Science

The Future of Science
Is Female

The Brilliant Minds Shaping the 21st Century

Zara Stone

Coral Gables

Copyright 2020 Zara Stone

Published by Mango Publishing, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover Art and Interior Layout Design: Jermaine Lau

Mango is an active supporter of authors rights to free speech and artistic expression in their books. The purpose of copyright is to encourage authors to produce exceptional works that enrich our culture and our open society. Uploading or distributing photos, scans or any content from this book without prior permission is theft of the authors intellectual property. Please honor the authors work as you would your own. Thank you in advance for respecting our authors rights.

For permission requests, please contact the publisher at:
Mango Publishing Group
2850 Douglas Road, 2nd Floor
Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA

For special orders, quantity sales, course adoptions and corporate sales, please email the publisher at or +1.800.509.4887.

The Future of Science Is Female: The Brilliant Minds Shaping the 21st Century

ISBN: (p) 978-1-64250-319-7 (e) 978-1-64250-320-3
BISAC: YAN006140, YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / Women
LCCN: Has been requested with the Library of Congress Cataloging

Printed in the United States of America

Please note some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Table of Contents

Throughout history, badass women have created world-changing advances in science and technology, and right now theyre finally getting the recognition they deserve. #preach

In San Francisco, scientist Etosha Cave developed a machine that sucks carbon dioxide out of the air and turns it into useful plastics and fuel when she was twenty-nine. In Burlington, Canada, seventeen-year-old Riya Karumanchi built the SmartCane, which uses computer vision, haptics, and GPS technology to steer visually impaired people around obstacles. The SmartCanes vibrations also provide directions. In Connecticut, twenty-nine-year-old Ashley Kalinauskass company, Torigen, creates and sells a working cancer vaccine for dogs. Thanks to Ashleys dedication, hundreds of puppies lives have been saved. The list of amazing women in the world right now goes on and on. These scientists and technologists are Black, queer, Asian, disabled, Latina, and white.

We need more of them.

Today, fewer than 4 percent of Latinas and 3 percent of Black women get doctoral degrees in science and engineering. Women make up 20 percent of all undergraduate degrees in engineering, physics, and computer science, but only 11 percent end up working in STEM.

Implicit bias, sexism, and a culture that recommends Bratz dolls to girls and Lego kits to boys play a part in this. Then there are the history books full of white men, which suggest that women arent as important or as clever as dudes are. The news is full of stories about cool tech and science startups and tends to focus on the Evan Spiegels, Elon Musks, and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world. When they mention female CEOs, they tend to have fashion- or beauty-related businesses.

We need to know about the Etoshas and Riyas and Ashleys of the world.

The more you hear about people who look and sound like you and are doing great things, the easier it is to realize that you can do that too. I wrote this book so girls and gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people everywhere can learn about people who dealt with similar problems and how they refused to let that rule them.

Why This Matters

In 2007, I interned at a British mens magazine that covered celebrities, fast cars, and the latest gadgets. It was a competitive internship, and I was excited to work there. I really wanted to make it in journalism; the idea of telling peoples stories and learning about the world seemed like the best job ever. I was one of two girls in the office.

I did everything that people told me would make me a success: arriving an hour early and leaving late and saying yes to everything they asked me to do, from photocopying to typing up notes. I loved the energy of the place. Early on, I signed for a delivery of products from a big electronics brand. There were so many that the editor, a fifty-something white man, said everyone should take one to reviewincluding me. The pile included headphones, a camera, fitness trackers, and more. He asked me what I wanted, and I said Id love to review the camera. He frowned. Why not take the electric toothbrush or the hairdryer? he said. I think youd be good with them.

I noddedI was trying to be the best intern ever , remember?and took the electric toothbrush home. A week later I turned in a kickass review, which went in the magazine. Then they gave me a hair straightener to review. A pair of smart scales. A pink laptop. I loved learning about technology, but I hated being put in a box.

Ive never forgotten that editor. Maybe he genuinely thought those gadgets were best for me. Maybe he didnt realize how sexist and belittling it felt to be the girl with the pink technology. But so what? It still stung, and it influenced what work I did there and how other people looked at me. His microaggressions stuck with me.

I went on to have a great career in journalism, with a focus on the intersection of culture, technology, and science. I worked as an on-air reporter for ABC News and as a writer for the Washington Post, The Atlantic , Wired magazine, the BBC, and more. Ive interviewed Steve Wozniak, DJ Tisto, Cat Deeley, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, Watchmen designer Dave Gibbons, firefighters, mermaids, and more. But I got here in spite of, not because of.

These kinds of microaggressions still happen. In schools across the country, about half as many girls as boys are interested in STEM by eighth grade. That drops to 15 percent by the end of high school. Thats not cool. The world is getting techier and techier, and we need women to be part of its creation. If youre not in the game, you dont get a say in what it looks like.

The Takeaway from This Book

Each chapter in this book examines a different world problem, from climate change to the future of work, and introduces the female scientists who are working on solutions. Youll learn how they got to where they are and what challenges they faced and overcame along the way.

It provides an overview of some of the coolest and most exciting science and technology projects happening todayall pioneered by badass women who challenged the status quo. They saw problems that needed solving and wouldnt take no for an answer.