The Bold and the Brave: A History of Women in Science and Engineering

Monique Frize · Peter R. D. Frize · Nadine Faulkner

Jan 2009 · University of Ottawa Press

About this ebook

The Bold and the Brave investigates how women have striven throughout history to gain access to education and careers in science and engineering.

Author Monique Frize, herself an engineer for over 40 years, introduces the reader to key concepts and debates that contextualize the obstacles women have faced and continue to face in the fields of science and engineering. She focuses on the history of women's education in mathematics and science through the ages, from antiquity to the Enlightenment. While opportunities for women were often purposely limited, she reveals how many women found ways to explore science outside of formal education. The book examines the lives and work of three women--Sophie Germain, Mileva Einstein, and Rosalind Franklin--that provide excellent examples of how women's contributions to science have been dismissed, ignored or stolen outright.

She concludes with an in-depth look at women's participation in science and engineering throughout the twentieth century and the current status of women in science and engineering, which has experienced a decline in recent years. To encourage more young women to pursue careers in science and engineering she advocates re-gendering the fields by integrating feminine and masculine approaches that would ultimately improve scientific and engineering endeavours.

Published in English.

About the author

Monique (Aubry) Frize is Distinguished Professor (Retired) at the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering, Carleton University, and Professor Emerita at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa. She was made a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 1992 and an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993, the latter in recognition of being "well-known in the field of biomedical engineering" and for being "a role model and an inspiration for women seeking careers in science." In 2010 she received the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and the Professional Engineers Ontario's joint Gold Medal, and became a Fellow of Engineers Canada. In 2013, she became a Fellow of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society. Monique (Aubry) Frize est professeure (à la retraite) au Département d'informatique et de systémique de l'Université Carleton et professeure émérite à l'École de science informatique et de génie électrique de l'Université d'Ottawa. Elle devient Fellow à l'Académie canadienne du génie en 1992 et Officier de l'Ordre du Canada en 1993 en reconnaissance pour sa renommée dans le domaine du génie biomédical et pour avoir été un excellent modèle de rôle et une inspiration pour les femmes cherchant à faire carrière en sciences. En 2010, elle obtient la médaille d'or de l'Ordre des ingénieurs de l'Ontario et de l'Ontario Society of Professional Engineers; elle devient également Fellow à Ingénieurs Canada. En 2013, elle devient Fellow à la Société canadienne de génie biomédical.