"Zernike, a wonderful storyteller, seamlessly weaves together contemporary events, facts
and statistics, and telling anecdotes from women who were working in the sciences at that time,
recreating for readers an almost unbelievable culture of never-ending microaggressions, sexual
harassment, and professional disdain... Zernike's profile of Nancy Hopkins provides brilliant inspiration."--Booklist (starred review)

"A fascinating, heartening account of successful advocacy in the scientific and academic communities... A powerful story of 16 women who 'upset the usual assumptions about why there were so few women in science and math in the U.S.'"--Kirkus (starred review)

"What Nancy Hopkins achieved is exceptional--in science of course, but more broadly in society. What Kate Zernike has achieved in this brilliant book is also exceptional--a condemnation of the treatment of women in science and a riveting story about the drive to pursue science."--Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winner The Emperor of All Maladies and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Gene

"Kate Zernike broke the end of this story for the Boston Globe in 1999. Now she goes back to tell it from the beginning, and even though you know how it turns out, you'll hang on every word. A blistering, brave, heartbreaking, and heartening account of brilliant women and the world-changing power of sisterhood and science."
--Janice P. Nimura, author of The Doctors Blackwell

"A gripping case study of the horrors and triumphs of the gender revolution in science. No matter who you are, be prepared to be transformed by the remarkable life and career of Nancy Hopkins and the MIT 16. The Exceptions will shock ('never again' you will repeat, every few pages); equally, it will instill hope from shining examples of the indomitability of the oppressed insisting simply on a life in science."--Mahzarin R. Banaji, co-author of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People

"A story I wouldn't believe except that it's true, told by the reporter who broke it first. I'm embarrassed to say that I knew nothing about Nancy Hopkins before opening the cover of The Exceptions. Once I started, I couldn't stop. By the end, I thought, there is no stronger antidote to imposter syndrome than knowing someone like you was good enough all along--and that it is the rules that need to change, not the players." -- Angela Duckworth, author of Grit

"A stunning account of discrimination against women scientists based on riveting interviews that reveal disturbing practices and behavior of top male scientists at MIT and elsewhere."--Kenneth R. Manning, author of Black Apollo of Science

"Two decades ago, MIT recognized the gender inequality in its faculty and publicly began an effort to address the situation. This well researched and well written book tells that story and places it in an historical and national context. Despite our advances in science and technology, our country and our world still have a long way to go in acknowledging the talents, worth, and contributions of women."--Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams

"Equally gifted as both reporter and storyteller, Kate Zernike has given us a book that is always engaging, at times shocking, and in the end thrilling: a stirring account of the triumph of women scientists--simultaneously brilliant and brave--in their long struggle for full equality. The Exceptions is exceptional."--Daniel Okrent, author of The Guarded Gate and Last Call

"When, despite talent and tenure, Professor Nancy Hopkins found herself thwarted in her ability to do science at her own institution, she got together with a group of other tenured women scientists and collected data that demonstrated discrimination. They documented the size of men's and women's offices, their salaries, and the difference in their committee assignments and course loads. Tenured male professors got help with mortgages to buy houses. The tenured women didn't know these programs existed. The president of MIT admitted discrimination. It was the start of a new kind of conversation in academic life. The Exceptions is pitch perfect in telling this story as only a first chapter in an ongoing struggle. A page-turner. Poignant. Infuriating. Inspirational. I read it and was reminded that this work needs to be taken up by each new generation of women in the workplace."--Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, MIT; author of Reclaiming Conversation and The Empathy Diaries