Why are there so few prominent female physicists? Traditionally women have faced barriers in higher education, denying them access to higher learning and scientific laboratories. Today many of these barriers have been breached, but the female pioneers who overcame discrimination and became major players in their fields remain largely in the shadows. Their names deserve to be known and the importance of their work, achievements and contributions to science warrant recognition. Originally published in 2006, Out of the Shadows provides an accurate and authoritative description of the women who made original and important contributions to physics in the twentieth century, documenting their major discoveries and putting their work into its historical context. Each chapter concentrates on a different woman, and is written by a physicist with considerable experience in their field. The book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in science and social history.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Freeman J. Dyson; Introduction Nina Byers; 1. Hertha Aryton 1854–1923 Joan Mason; 2. Margaret Maltby 1860–1944 Peggy Kidwell; 3. Agnes Pockels 1862–1935 Gary A. Williams; 4. Marie Curie 1867–1934 A. Pais; 5. Henrietta Leavitt 1868–1921 Jean L. Turner; 6. Harriet Brooks 1876–1933 C. W. Wong; 7. Lise Meitner 1878-1968 Ruth Lewin Sime; 8. Emmy Noether 1882–1935 Nina Byers; 9. Inge Lehmann 1888–1993 Bruce A. Bolt; 10. Marietta Blau 1894–1970 Leopold Halpern and Maurice M. Shapiro; 11. Hertha Sponer 1895–1968 Helmut Rechenberg; 12. Irene Joliot-Curie 1897–1956 Hélène Langevin-Joliot and Pierre Radvanyi; 13. Katherine Burr Blodgett 1898–1979 Gary A. Williams; 14. Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin 1900–1979 Vera C. Rubin; 15. Mary Cartwright 1900–1998 Freeman J. Dyson; 16. Bertha Jeffreys 1903–1999 Ruth M. Williams; 17. Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale1903–1971 Judith Milledge; 18. Maria Goeppert Mayer 1906–1972 Steven A. Moszkowski; 19. Helen Megaw 1907–2002 A. Michael Glazer and Christine Kelsey; 20. Yvette Cauchois 1908–1999 Christiane Bonnelle; 21. Marguerite Perey 1909–1975 Jean-Pierre Adloff and George B. Kauffman; 22. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin 1910–1994 Jenny P. Glusker; 23. Gertrude Scharff Goldhaber 1911–1998 Alfred Scharff Goldhaber; 24. Chien Shiung Wu 1912–1997 Noemie Bencze-Koller; 25. Margaret E. Burbidge 1919 Virginia Trimble; 26. Phyllis Freier 1921–1992 Cecil J. Waddington; 27. Rosalyn S. Yalow 1921 M. S. Dresselhaus and F. A. Stahl; 28. Esther Conwell 1922 Lewis Rothberg; 29. Cecile Dewitt-Morette 1922 Bryce DeWitt; 30. Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat 1923 James W. York Jr.; 31. Vera Rubin 1928 Robert J. Rubin; 32. Mildred S. Dresselhaus 1930 G. Dresselhaus and F. A. Stahl; 33. Myriam Sarachik 1933 Jonathan R. Friedman; 34. Juliet Lee-Franzini 1933 Paolo Franzini; 35. Helen T. Edwards 1936 John Peoples; 36. Mary K. Gaillard 1939 Andreszej Buras; 37. Renata Kallosh 1943 Andrei Linde and Michael Gutperle; 38. Jocelyn Bell Burnell 1943 Ferdinand V. Coroniti and Gary A. Williams; 39. Gail G. Hanson 1947 David G. Cassel; 40. San Lan Wu David B. Cline.