Even in the third decade of the 21st century, it is still harder for women to make a career in science than men. Two centuries ago, however, at the beginning of the 19th century, when science as we know it was just getting started, the situation was far worse. Then, the very notion of a female scientist would have been regarded as something of an oxymoron. ‘Against the Odds’ highlights the achievements of women who overcame hurdles and achieved scientific success (although not always as much as they deserved) in spite of male prejudice, as society changed over about 150 years, from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century.