Oh No He Didn’t!: Brilliant Women and the Men Who Took Credit for Their Work

Murphy (codirector, Women’s and Children’s Advocacy Project; And Justice for Some: An Exposé of the Lawyers and Judges Who Let Dangerous Criminals Go Free), an attorney specializing in women’s rights and violence against women and children, focuses her book on innovative and genius women throughout history and the men who took credit for their contributions to physics, astronomy, economics, the arts, and architecture. Utilizing archival material and other research, her book profiles many of these women. Her list includes Eunice Foote, who was the first to demonstrate the greenhouse effect; novelist/painter Zelda Fitzgerald, whose own husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, put her words in his books; and so many others. Murphy draws from her own personal experiences too; a professor and then a student plagiarized her work. She writes with a jaded, edgy humor, with chapter titles like “A Woman Discovered Nuclear Fusion; a Man Got Her Prize” and “A Woman Invented Monopoly To Discourage Greed, Then a Greedy Man Stole It.” Her writing style is bold and relatable without sacrificing historical accuracy or seriousness. Each chapter ends with references to resources for further reading.