Our Family Had Big Dreams

This is the biography of a woman who has made education the centerpiece of her life. Growing up in London in the lean years following the Second World War, she strove for a career in science when this was discouraged in young women. Her parents' determination and their strong family values made education a focus and goal for themselves and their children. She honed her scientific skills in the new field of radio astronomy, and became a well-known scientist in her long career in remote sensing and scientific policy advice. Her international successes in water sports mirror the determination she brought to all aspects of her life. This is a heartening story of how gender bias was overcome in a very male-dominated era.