In our last blog, we shone a spotlight on all of the talented female employees, who have helped make the Jenx vision happen for the last four decades.
This time around, we’re focusing on one Jenx employee in particular, who has taken the spotlight and used it to illuminate the pioneering achievements of several notable female trailblazers, who have all played a part in shaping STEM over the centuries.
Project development engineer, Emma Green, is the brain (and words) behind Female Innovators Who Changed Our World: How Women Shaped STEM. The 157-page book shares the fascinating stories of countless women, who overcame numerous barriers to advance our understanding of STEM.
Gap in the market
Emma, who has been working for us for almost seven years, has always been a keen fiction writer. But it was actually a combination of having a contact in publishing and being in lockdown that led to her penning the book.
“It all started when I was talking to a commissioning editor, who I knew through a friend. They were publishing a series of books about pioneering women in various fields. I was fortunate enough to be the only woman they knew who worked in the industry and had writing experience, so they offered me the opportunity,” she explains.
“When I looked at the market, there were several books for adults that just focused on women in Science, Technology, Engineering and (STEM), or books for children that covered everything. But there weren’t any books for adults that provided an overview of all of the different women and their different backgrounds and fields.
“After several brainstorming sessions, review meetings and re-edits, the vision started to take shape. It was a great team effort all round!”
Two-year project
Female Innovators Who Changed Our World: How Women Shaped Stem took two years to come to fruition. The first year was spent researching and writing, and the second year focused on production.
Published by Pen & Sword History, the book was brought to life by Emma during evenings and weekends, which involved spending three months purely on writing after many months of researching and a lot of support from family and friends.
“There were literally hundreds of women I could have featured in the book, but after careful consideration and much deliberation, I managed to whittle the number down to 45,” explains Emma.
“The research phase was absolutely fascinating, but I was also quite embarrassed – as a trained scientist and engineer, I’d only heard about Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie when I started the project. However, there are many more examples of trailblazing women, who have helped shape our day-to-day life on a global scale.”
1 book, 45 trailblazing women
Emma selected the final list of women based on their impact on everyday life, and any additional barriers, such as prejudice, illness and personal tragedy, they had to overcome along the way.
“I was particularly keen to showcase areas of STEM that are interdisciplinary – to show that there are fascinating and important fields that lie between the rigid categories of physics, biology, chemistry, and maths we learn about at school,” she explains.
Joan Clarke, Alice Parker, Alyce Gullattee and Kin Yamei are among the women to be featured in the book, which comprises eight categories – world-defining moments in history; our day-to-day lives; improving lives, equality and justice; global health; protecting the earth; influential projects and leadership in STEM; healthcare for children and understanding our world.
Emma concludes: “My main aim was to get all of these incredible women’s stories out there, especially those that have been lost to history. I want the book to help people, who may be struggling with their STEM career or studies, to feel inspired and know they can succeed, just like all of the great women before them did.”
Female Innovators Who Changed Our World: How Women Shaped STEM is available from all book shops, including Waterstones and WHSmith, as well as Amazon.
