When the author became a nuclear physicist, the number of women in the field could be counted on one hand. In this memoir, she reveals her difficult journey to international recognition in physics. She is frank about the ways being a woman has made a difference in her opportunities and choices as a scientist--and how, by being a woman, she has made a difference in the world of physics.

A TALE OF TWO SCIENCES: Memoirs of a Dissident Scientist is one scientist's reflection on a successful sixty-year career. Professor Sturrock has trod an unusual path, combining a variety of innovative research in mainstream science with another variety of studies well outside the mainstream. Although most scientists look with a jaundiced eye on topics such as parapsychology and UFO research, he views them simply as more grist for the scientific mill, regarding topics outside the mainstream as major challenges rather than minor annoyances best swept under the rug. A Tale of Two Sciences has three sections: The first reviews the author's conventional research. The second reviews his unconventional research. The third presents his speculations on how these two presently distinct ventures might be reconciled, to their mutual advantage. With a clear and simple style-and occasional humor-Sturrock presents both scientists and nonscientists with a refreshingly open and unprejudiced perspective on science. He shows that scientific thinking can be applied to a wide range of topics- unconventional as well as conventional-and even to topics that are normally considered beyond the purview of science, such as the Shakespeare authorship question.