Ingenious women

"From the first British patent held by a woman in 1637 to the outbreak of the First World War, Ingenious Women examines an intriguing cross-section of female inventors from around the world. Hampered by the restrictions of a male-dominated society, such inventors have been hard-pressed to gain credence and credit for their ideas. Margaret Knight, an American, eventually won a lengthy court battle with her employer which allowed her to retain ownership of her patent for her machine to make paper bags. Martha Coston also had a fight on her hands when she developed her late husband's idea for signal flares at sea - the Navy claimed the idea was theirs. Yet some women, like Madame Roxey Caplin, who was awarded the prize medal as 'Manufacturer, Designer and Inventor' at the Great Exhibition in 1851 for the corset designs, did succeed despite the restrictions of society."--Jacket.