Martha Freeman - Born Curious: 20 Girls Who Grew Up to Be Awesome Scientists

For Penelope, who was born curious

M. F.

For my mentee, Jaileen, and the Nieves family

K. W.

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

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Text copyright 2020 by Martha Freeman

Illustrations copyright 2020 by Katy Wu

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Book design by Alicia Mikles

The illustrations for this book were created digitally in Adobe Photoshop.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Freeman, Martha, 1956 author. | Wu, Katy, illustrator.

Title: Born curious : 20 girls who grew up to be awesome scientists / by Martha Freeman ; illustrated by Katy Wu.

Other titles: Girls who grew up to be awesome scientists

Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2020] | A Paula Wiseman Book. | Audience: Ages 712. | Audience: Grades 4 to 6. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019008763| ISBN 9781534421530 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781534421547 (eBook)

Subjects: LCSH: Women scientistsBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC Q141 .F74 2020 | DDC 509.2/52dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019008763

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I N THESE PAGES YOULL read about twenty scientists who changed the way we understand the universe.

Boring, right?

Wrong!

Whether they studied galaxies far away or fruit fly cells, the structure of a virus or the structure of the stratosphere, the behavior of a billiard ball or the behavior of a Komodo dragonall of these women woke up eager to make discoveries every day.

And for us, thats a very good thing. Without these women, people would know a lot less, and the world would be a sicker, dirtier, more dangerous place.

From ancient times until today, women have pursued science and math, even if their contributions werent always recognized. We chose the women in this book because they do different kinds of science, and because each of their stories is different. Some grew up rich and others poor. Some grew up in peaceful circumstances, and others in times or places torn by conflict. Some were the smartest kids in the class, while others struggled to find something they were good at.

As women in professions dominated by men, some felt discrimination, while others said they were usually able to shrug it off.

One thing they had in common: They were born curious.

Are you curious too? Read on.

Then get up, get out, and do some science of your own!

GEOCHEMIST

18421911

M ARCH IS THE QUIETEST month on the farm near Dunstable, Massachusetts, so every year the family takes a break and visits relatives in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. The distances are short, but this is the 1840s, and the only way to travel is by wagon. Every trip becomes an adventure.

Bumping along in the back, tucked in blankets, the little girl with the serious gray eyes listens to her parents argue. Mamaalways a worriersays the still-snowy road is too dangerous, and they should turn back. But Papa, driving the team of horses, says thats nonsense. The roads are well-traveled and, Where any one else has been, there I can go.

All her life, the girl will remember this motto of her papas and think that while its true enough, it doesnt really suit her. What she wishes for herself is an adventurous spirit, one tough enough to do things no one else has ever done.

As a child, though, Ellen Henrietta Swallowknown as Nelliewas kept plenty busy with routine chores at home. Her mother got sick a lot. Her father had his hands full with the farm, which never brought in much money. It was up to Nellie to cook, wash, iron, clean, and even hang wallpaper.

Nellie liked some of the work and took pride in doing it well. By the time she was ten, her embroidery and her baking had won prizes at the county fair.

Nellies pursuits were not confined to the house. She also drove the cows to pasture, pitched hay andbest of allkept a garden. All her life Nellie loved flowers and plants. In a letter to her cousin and best friend, Annie, she bragged about her amaryllis and geraniums.

Nellie was good at schoolwork, especially Latin, and when she graduated from the Westford Academythe equivalent of todays high schoolshe wanted more education. Unfortunately, her family was having the usual money troubles, and there was none to spare for her to go to college.

So Nellie decided to earn the money herself.

By this time her father had opened a general store. She worked the counter, kept the accounts, and went to Boston to buy supplies. She also gave Latin lessons. Most important, she saved like crazy, living for a while on a diet of only bread and milk.

Two years passed, and still Nellie did not have enough money for college. In 1866when she was twenty-fourthe hard work, the scrimping, and the frustration combined to make her sick. Till then Nellie had always been a bundle of energy, but suddenly she couldnt so much as get up off the couch.

Today we would probably call the problem depression. She called it purgatory, the time when my own heart turned against me.

How she overcame her sickness is not clear, but later she would write, When you feel an indication of a certain morbid feeling, resolutely set your mind in another direction, and dont give up easily. Let the mind know there is a willpower to control it. This is possible.

By the summer of 1868, she had a plan, which she announced to a friend like this: I have been to school a good deal, read quite a little, and so secured quite a little knowledge. Now I am going to Vassar College to get it straightened out and assimilated.

Vassar College in New York State was only seven years old and exclusively for women. (Today men attend Vassar too.) Nellie was twenty-five when she enrolled, and from the moment she got there she loved it. Among her professors was the astronomer Maria (pronounced Mar-EYE-ah) Mitchell, whose life story would inspire astrophysicist Vera Cooper Rubin (see ) six decades later.