Tanya Lee Stone

The ubiquitous board game Monopoly was invented and patented as The Landlord's Game by Elizabeth "Lizzie" Magie in 1903. She tried to sell it to Parker Bros., but they turned her down; nevertheless, her game became popular, spreading from person to person, with many people making their own changes and additions. Later, during the Depression, Charles Darrow began making and selling a version called Monopoly; its growing popularity sparked the Parker Bros. interest, at which point they discovered that Lizzie owned the patent on the game. They gave her a lump sum for the rights, but she saw none of the profits - despite the fact that her original aim in creating the game was to point out wealth inequality between landlords and tenants.

Back matter: trivia, monopoly math, author's note, sources… (mehr)

The author begins by addressing the reader directly ("Dear Reader"), acknowledging that the story does not have a happy ending: Franklin did not get credit for her important scientific work. Instead, her colleagues Watson and Crick used her data, including "Photo 51," to build their model of DNA, for which they and Franklin's King's College colleague Maurice Wilkins won the Nobel Prize a few years after Franklin's death from ovarian cancer at age 37. An author's note follows Franklin's story, including photos of her and an explanation of the Matilda Effect. Quotes are sourced and additional sources are listed.

Beautifully done. See also: Counting on Katherine/A Computer Called Katherine (Katherine Johnson), The Woman in the Moon (Margaret Hamilton), Hidden Figures, The Fire of Stars (Cecelia Payne), What Miss Mitchell Saw (Maria Mitchell), Never Give Up (Kati Kariko)… (mehr)