The author 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.