Description

This is an interesting and bittersweet biography. Elizabeth Alexander was a capable and energetic scientist, but circumstances meant that she was never able to settle down and develop her scientific career. The three years she spent in charge of the Operational Research Section of the Radar Development Laboratory in New Zealand was the only time that Elizabeth held a position of responsibility, and is a clear indication that, had she lived 50 years later, she would have been an effective science leader … The book outlines the career of a remarkable scientist, and is a significant contribution to the history of several different areas of science.

Many women scientists, particularly those who did crucial work in two world wars, have disappeared from history. Until they are written back in, the history of science will continue to remain unbalanced. This book tells the story of Elizabeth Alexander, a pioneering scientist who changed thinking in geology and radio astronomy during WWII and its aftermath.

Building on an unpublished diary, recently declassified government records and archive material adding considerably to knowledge about radar developments in the Pacific in WWII, this book also contextualises Elizabeth’s academic life in Singapore before the war, and the country’s educational and physical reconstruction after it as it moved towards independence.

This unique story is a must-read for readers interested in scientific, social and military history during the WWII, historians of geology, radar, as well as scientific biographies.

Related Link(s)Women scientists disappearing from history? ? New popular science release Rocks, Radio and Radar explores all
MH Talk for the Malayan Volunteers Group