"This new edition of Quest for Roots has been extensively updated and augmented with many new profiles of remarkable women. Some of them are of great women who have sadly passed away since the first edition in 1999, and have thus become eligible for inclusion. Other new additions are profiles of women whom we ought to have included in the first edition but hadn't then discovered. We now have an even more diverse, pan-Indian and comprehensive list than we had before, and this list is likely to grow both in scope and in variety with time.
The experience of compiling this book has been a voyage of discovery. One are where we have been able to add many interesting new profiles is that of science, technology and medicine, thus  belying the general impression that these are fields where excellence is reserved for men. Another field that is still woefully under represented is sports, because women's entry there is relatively new.

We know there are still, in spite of our best efforts, many women out there whose names and stories we have not yet heard, in many fields of life. However, there are some encouraging signs. Women's lives are now better documented, and society is more likely to recognize their achievements today than fifty or even ten years ago. This is in contrast with the practice even in recent times when Women's names were routinely changed in marriage, and their whole histories before that event might simply be wiped away."