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The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation Paperback – July 31, 2001
This biography illuminates the life and achievements of the remarkable woman scientist who revolutionized the concept of radiation risk.
In the 1950s Alice Stewart began research that led to her discovery that fetal X rays double a child's risk of developing cancer. Two decades later---when she was in her seventies---she again astounded the scientific world with a study showing that the U.S. nuclear weapons industry is about twenty times more dangerous than safety regulations permit. This finding put her at the center of the international controversy over radiation risk. In 1990, the New York Times called Stewart "perhaps the Energy Department's most influential and feared scientific critic."
The Woman Who Knew Too Much traces Stewart's life and career from her early childhood in Sheffield to her medical education at Cambridge to her research positions at Oxford University and the University of Birmingham.
Gayle Greene is Professor of Women's Studies and Literature, Scripps College.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Michigan Press
- Publication dateJuly 31, 2001
- Dimensions5.75 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
- ISBN-100472087835
- ISBN-13978-0472087839
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Product details
- Publisher : University of Michigan Press
- Publication date : July 31, 2001
- Edition : First Edition
- Language : English
- Print length : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0472087835
- ISBN-13 : 978-0472087839
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,844,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,351 in Radiology (Books)
- #2,995 in Environmental Science (Books)
- #9,523 in Women's Studies (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

MISSING PERSONS (U of Nevada Press, 2017) is "a fascinating foray into loss, grief, and self-identity...Greene doesn't hold back. The emotional pain she shares in these chapters is real and raw, reminiscent of Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking." Story Circle Book Reviews
http://www.gaylegreene.org/
Here's a short interview about writing the memoir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccdjj9WnrVA&feature=youtu.be
And a blog:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insomniac/201801/mourning-without-markers
INSOMNIAC (UC Press, Little Brown in the U.K) was Amazon's #1 pick for March 2008 and a finalist for the Gregory Bateson Prize for Cultural Anthropology. The book combines personal narrative with scientific investigation; it's the first work to report on the widespread discontent of insomniacs who are tired of hearing the same-old advice and being talked down to by professionals. It asks, why has a condition that plagues so many people been so long neglected and trivialized? Many readers have written to tell me it's been helpful.
Joyce Carol Oates: "Insomniac is an impassioned work--an inspired amalgam of academic and first-hand research, memoir, analysis... a cri de coeur from a lifetime insomniac that is sure to appeal to the vast army of fellow insomniacs the world over."
Billy Collins: "The good news is that Gayle Greene's book is all you ever need to read on the subject of sleeplessness; the bad news for fellow insomniacs is that reading it--even in bed--will fail to lull you to sleep."
Francine Prose: "Insomniac is far too interesting to lull you into dreamland, but it will certainly engage and comfort you--and keep you company--during those long, dark hours that the clock ticks off until dawn."
Peter Hauri, co-author of No More Sleepless Nights: "This is a very well-researched, in-depth book on insomnia, written with much empathy and from the patient's point of view. I would recommend it to all who are plagued by this malady or who professionally try to teach it."
New England Journal of Medicine: "if you want an in-depth overview of the patients, the physicians, and the science that are part of the contemporary culture surrounding insomnia and sleep medicine, Greene's book is the best available."
People Magazine: "In search of a good night's rest, a lit professor travels the world and bones up on sleep science. Fascinating."
I'm the author of THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH: ALICE STEWART AND THE SECRETS OF RADIATION, U of Michigan Press, a biography of a little-known British physician and epidemiologist, Alice Stewart, who discovered in the 1950s that if you x-ray pregnant women, you double the risk of a childhood cancer, and who later became guru to the anti-nuclear movement. Her discovery revolutionized medical practice: on account of it, doctors don't do fetal x-rays anymore. The book was reissued in 2017, when new information about Stewart came to light. I've also published books on Shakespeare and contemporary women writers.
I'm professor emerita, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
I have a blog, SLEEPSTARVED.ORG, for insomniacs who are looking for new ways of thinking about insomnia, who want to learn the latest in research, brainstorm about things that help and what might be done to bring this hidden malady to public awareness.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book well researched, with one review noting it provides many details about Alice Stewart's work. The writing quality receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as crisp. They appreciate the book's readability and its focus on radiation exposure.
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Customers appreciate the research quality of the book, with one customer noting it provides many details about Alice Stewart's work.
"...Professor Gayle Greene's, The Woman Who Knew Too Much, is an impeccably researched and clearly written historical account of the life and work of..." Read more
"...to me to Dr. Stewart and her life's work and provided many details about her work and life that had never known. I really couldn't put the book down!" Read more
"...it was well researched and written. more stories about women who have received no recognition for major break throughs need to be written...." Read more
"This is a great book. Scientific facts, political intrigue, media blackout, personal struggle and eventually victory for people who were illegally..." Read more
Customers find the book to be an excellent read.
"An absolute must read...." Read more
"...I loaned it out for someone to read then return. Well, the book is such an excellent read that I purchased it again." Read more
"This is a great book...." Read more
"Excellent Book..." Read more
Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, with one noting it is crisp and another finding it readable.
"...This well-written book reintroduced to me to Dr. Stewart and her life's work and provided many details about her work and life that had never known...." Read more
"...Her writing is crisp and unencumbered, and it hold the reader's interest into the life of this feisty, humorous, brilliant woman...." Read more
"...it was well researched and written. more stories about women who have received no recognition for major break throughs need to be written...." Read more
"Readable and an important read...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's coverage of radiation exposure.
"...That low doses of radiation (1 rem to 250 mrem) could have detrimental health effects was unwelcome information in the weapons and nuclear industry..." Read more
"The scientific work of Alice B. Stewart is crucial to understanding the low level radiation exposures that ordinary Americans are subject to in..." Read more
"An Vital Work on Women and Science, Nuclear History, and Radiation and Health..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2017Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseAn absolute must read. Professor Gayle Greene's, The Woman Who Knew Too Much, is an impeccably researched and clearly written historical account of the life and work of Alice Stewart, the British epidemiologist who discovered (in the 1950s) that a single x-ray to the womb doubled a fetus' chance of developing childhood cancer post-birth. Throughout her life, Stewart continued to discover new and important safety issues regarding ionizing radiation and the dangers to human health. Stewart's research was squashed (repeatedly) by male scholars and the nuclear industry. Like so many female scientists and scholars throughout history--her research was not given its fair due. Yet Stewart's work impacts all of us, and remains as vital today as it was in the 1950s. If you want to understand the health risks and dangers of exposure to ionizing radiation, read this book. If you are interested in women and science, read this book. If you are a feminist or ecofeminist, read this book. If you are an environmentalist, read this book.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseAlice Stewart was looking for the cause of childhood leukemia. What Alice found was that pelvic X-rays about doubled the risk of childhood leukemia and cancer. That low doses of radiation (1 rem to 250 mrem) could have detrimental health effects was unwelcome information in the weapons and nuclear industry and the medical community. She also found higher than expected rates of cancer among Hanford nuclear workers. The story of her intelligence, honesty and hard work and the obstacles she faced as she came to unpopular conclusions is still an important one as there are still those who fall into a state of wishful thinking and unsubstantiated dismissal of her work.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2013Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseThe scientific work of Alice B. Stewart is crucial to understanding the low level radiation exposures that ordinary Americans are subject to in their daily lives and how those exposures negatively impact our health. This well-written book reintroduced to me to Dr. Stewart and her life's work and provided many details about her work and life that had never known. I really couldn't put the book down!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2005Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase"Truth is the daughter of time", a saying used by Alice Stewart, cannot come soon enough in this era.
Gayle Greene should be held in the highest esteem for the eloquent presentation of Alice Stewart's quest for truth. Her writing is crisp and unencumbered, and it hold the reader's interest into the life of this feisty, humorous, brilliant woman. Dr. Stewart, just by being of the female gender, found it hard to be taken seriously, and it was not until late in her life that she was honored for a life of accomplishment and dedication. A simple woman born to parents who were both doctors; doctors who put their patients ahead of money and power.
It was a tenet to be carried on by their daughter, Alice Stewart, who never gave up trying to educate the public about radiation proliferation. Thanks to her, thousands of babies were saved from the horrors of exposure to radiation when the medical profession listened to what she had to say about xraying during the first trimester.
Later Alice was funded to examine the effects of radiation on works who handled nuclear materials and weaponry. When her message was not what the AEC and others wanted to hear or receive, they tried to confiscate her work and cut her funding. Indeed, the funding was cut off, but she managed to secure her work and continue its research. Gayle Greene's writing abilities are able to give you the sense of Dr. Stewart's anguish and frustration.
The Woman Who Knew Too Much is a classic example of the control of information which the public direly needs, but which is buried and censored. This book, though written several years ago, is as pertinent as if it were published yesterday, and it should be read by all who are interested in the welfare of humanity. The inclusion in a science or social studies curriculum of the developing minds of students would be a well-deserved legacy for this wonderful woman who died in 2002 at the age of 96.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2020Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI am a senior citizen. Looking back at my career choice of radiologic technician, I learned sooo much about my profession which was kept from me at that time. Alice Stewart was "one brave women"!!!
- Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2021Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI read this book years ago. I loaned it out for someone to read then return. Well, the book is such an excellent read that I purchased it again.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2013Format: PaperbackVerified Purchasei bought it because it was written by a former professor of mine at scripps college. it was well researched and written. more stories about women who have received no recognition for major break throughs need to be written. details the enormous amount of work and research that alice stewart accomplished with very little support from the british government. passed the book on to my women friends in the health profession
- Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2016Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseAn excellent book about an extraordinary person. I can think of only two other women who made art of their perseverance and independent intellect. And those two are Sappho & Emily Dickenson. (I’m certain there are many, many more.) This book is a celebration of a life of truth spoken to power.
Gayle Greene is to be commended for her service to humanity.
Top reviews from other countries
GDRReviewed in Canada on July 9, 20183.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseVery interesting life history of an amazing woman doctor. Would have benefited from a much better editor.
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Alix BOUCHARDReviewed in France on May 30, 20184.0 out of 5 stars Belle biographie pour une belle personne
Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseBelle biographie pour une belle personne. Passionnante l'histoire de cette femme déterminée ... une bonne inspiration pour l'éducation de nos enfants.
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R.Z.Reviewed in Germany on July 8, 20195.0 out of 5 stars The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseDas Buch lag so schnell wie möglich in ausgezeichnetem Zustand auf meinem Schreibtisch. Alles wunderbar. Gruss
MorseReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 17, 20155.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseFascinating book about a fascinating scientist.
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