This article appeared in Discover’s annual state of science issue as “What We’re Reading.” Support our science journalism by becoming a subscriber.
By Janice P. Nimura
The most important people in history aren’t always picture-perfect, flawless heroes. Take Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, for example — the first women in the U.S. to receive medical degrees. They wrote descriptively about their squeamishness and disgust of sick people. Or, consider the fact that neither sister thought of themselves as radical, despite becoming pioneers for women’s equality in a time when such a topic was still taboo.
Nonetheless, sometimes these imperfect people laid the groundwork for monumental societal change. The Blackwell sisters, who in 1857 opened the first women-run hospital in New York City, set forth a precedent for health care that would transform a traditionally male-focused practice.
Nimura shocks and enthralls with her blunt, vivid storytelling. She draws on the writings of ...
