MARJO T. NURMINEN

Marjo T. Nurminen

Sisters of Science, the debut of the international award-winning non-fiction author Marjo T. Nurminen, was a resounding success both in terms of sales and reviews. In 2008, the book won the Finlandia Literary Prize for Non-Fiction (the best non-fiction book of the year) and it was selected one of the best history books of 2008 (Vuoden historiateos).

The Mapmakers’ World, published in 2015, was also nominated for one of the best history books and one of the best non-fiction books (the Finlandia Literary Prize for Non-Fiction) of 2015. The British Royal Geographical Society  granted the author the prestigious Fordham Award for outstanding research into the history of cartography.

The Story of the Baltic Sea — Maps from the Middle Ages to the Present Day was published in the autumn of 2020.The book is an exciting journey through time and a fascinating travel guide to the varied world of the Baltic Sea. It summarises the centuries of maritime interaction — knowledge, skills and products — that shaped people’s lives and world views in the past and now.

Nurminen’s books have been translated into various languages, including English, Swedish, German, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Complex Chinese (Taiwan). (Click the languages and see the covers).

Marjo T. Nurminen is a journalist by profession. She has worked in various media over twenty years, including over ten years as a science journalist in the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE.

Nurminen’s academic background is in cultural research. In the 1990s she studied archaeology, anthropology and philosophy of science at the University of Helsinki. She graduated as Master of Arts and started her Ph.D. studies on anthropological archaeology at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in 1999.

Alongside her studies, Nurminen also worked as a research diver in the underwater archaeology projects of the Maritime Museum of Finland.

Nurminen has also studied visual arts, modern dance, and theatre. She studied in e.g. Berlin, Japan, and Cuba several years during the 1990s. She continues to actively follow arts and culture, and goes diving together with her family.

COMMENTS ON THE BOOKS

The Sisters of Science can be called an international cultural achievement. ‘In over 400 pages, Nurminen brings forth the history of western science from Antiquity to the Enlightenment, showing how learned women were not afraid of breaking the norms of their day and age.’
Irma Stenbäck

Helsingin Sanomat

‘Sisters of Science is a well-thought-out, balanced, and very well written work (…) The richness of the illustrations supports the text, which conveys a full immersion in the subject matter, and a unique, in-depth focus on the topic.
Anneli Meriläinen-Hyvärinen

Ph.D., University of Oulu, HIIDENKIVI

‘Overall, the book is a veritable feast for the senses, and a highly significant work even on the global scale. It is hard to think of a book that could combine luxury and education in a better way. It took years to write the book. The reader will enjoy it for decades.’
Heikki Haapavaara

Kauppalehti, on The Mapmakers’ World

The Mapmakers’ World travels through time, taking its readers to the core of European culture. Through history of cartography and maps the authors have delved into the history of religion, commerce, art, seafaring and power politics. (…) The result is a work of magnificent beauty and enduring depth. The creation of a world view is a great and exciting story. The book takes its readers to treasures the likes of which they could never experience elsewhere.’
Selection jury of the Finlandia Literary Prize for Non-Fiction, 2015

reasons for the nomination

´This magnificent book is a monument to the effort and ingenuity that Europeans have devoted to understanding the wider world, a quest continuing to this day, and one that still relies on maps.´
Nicolas Crane

President of the Royal Geographical Society, on The Mapmakers´ World

‘It is an undeniable merit of Nurminen that she manages to make illustrative interpretations not only of the texts of the learned women, but also of the times in which they lived. (…) (…) Sisters of Science is chock-full of important information on the women that official history forgot; this makes it a welcome and necessary book. An added plus is the book’s alluring appearance, made possible with stylish and high-quality illustrations.’
Siru Kainulainen

Turun Sanomat

Contact Marjo T. Nurminen

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