Book description
'Had God intended Women merely as a finer sort of cattle, he would not
have made them reasonable.' Writing in 1673, Bathsua Makin was one of
the first women to insist that girls should receive a scientific
education. Despite the efforts of Makin and her successors, women were
excluded from universities until the end of the nineteenth century, yet
they found other ways to participate in scientific projects. Because
these were being carried out inside private houses, rather than in
universities or industrial laboratories, experiments often involved the
whole family. As well as collaborating in this home-based research,
women corresponded with internationally renowned scholars, hired tutors,
and even published their own books. They played essential roles in work
that was frequently attributed solely to their husbands, fathers or
friends. Women, in this way, have not been written out of the history of
science: they have never been written in. If mentioned at all, they
appear in subservient roles as helpless admirers or menial assistants.
Historians always decide which facts to emphasise, and they generally
choose to depict a vision of scientific progress that ignores women's
activities. By re-examining the lives of individuals, Pandora's Breeches
explores how women of the 17th and 19th century engaged in science and
contributed to its rapid growth. It sets out a new and compelling
version of science's past. Patricia Fara is a Fellow of Clare College,
Cambridge, where she lectures on the history of science. She is the
author of two books on scientific history for general readers, Newton:
The Making of Genius (2002) and An Entertainment for Angels: Electricity
and Enlightenment (2002), a well-received academic monograph, and
numerous articles and reviews for academic and popular publications.
