Maria Rentetzi

…Between 1958 and 1965, the two buses visited sixteen countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America and trained approximately 1,500 scientists. Eventually, the traveling laboratories lost their shiny blue color and began to rust. They were no longer needed.

In the meantime, knowledge about the use of atomic energy had spread in other ways across the globe . . . but not always with good intentions, and not always safely. Some tried to create more powerful nuclear weapons; others experienced nuclear accidents.

'Certain things, such as ships, have long been gendered but these were thought of as exceptions to the general rule of neutrality: a thing is an "it," not a "she" or a "he." This eye-opening book shows how widespread the gendering of things actually is — and not just the things of everyday life but the things of science. From the sealing wax and string of the laboratory to genealogical databases, The Gender of Things reveals the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the things of science and technology can be made masculine or feminine.' 

- Lorraine Daston, Director emerita, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany

Seduced by Radium is utterly original. By focusing on the development and marketing strategies employed by chemical corporations, Maria Rentetzi reveals the many products they sold to consumers and their uses for a wide range of problems. Analysis through the lens of gender shows how such strategies differed for women and men with consequences for both. This book is extremely important both for its subject matter and for its thoughtful analysis. Anyone with an interest in corporations and consumerism, as well as chemicals and consequences, will appreciate its valuable insights.

- Frederick Rowe Davis, author of Banned: A History of Pesticides and the Science of Toxicology