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The Female Scientist
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the scientific community did not welcome the participation of women, Considered an unladylike pursuit, men monopolized the sciences. Women were banned from scientific societies, universities, and discouraged from studying philosophical, and scientific subjects. This left little room for women to pursue their academic interests. The concept that women were capable of serious scientific work was ridiculed by men. In some circumstances, the amateur study of botany and geology was allowed; however, even in these cases, many believed it would promote immorality amongst women due to the sexual terminology involved in labelling of plants.
Article found in Punch periodical on the topic of women training as doctors. Image found at Wellcome Library.
The Upper Class Woman
Involvement of any kind within the growing scientific community was accessible only to women of the upper classes, as education opportunities for women during the eighteenth century, and early nineteenth century were limited. Through personal connections, upper class women were able to keep up to date with contemporary philosophical, and scientific development, although from a distance. The first woman to attend attend a meeting at the Royal Society was Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, in 1667. Due to her social connections, she was able to gain entry; however, her male counterparts protested furiously to her presence. Samuel Pepys recorded the event in his famous diaries, and another woman wasn’t admitted to the Society until 1945.
Cavendish, a contemporary natural philosopher, author, poet, and playwright, was a controversial figure due to her avid interest in natural sciences, and her critiques of the scientific communities exclusion of women. Although considered an intelligent woman, her contributions to the study of natural sciences was trivialized, and admonished by male counterparts. Her attempts to be taken seriously underlined the patriarchal nature of British society, and the scientific community during the eighteenth century, and would continue on into the twentieth.
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Nineteenth Century Society
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The accessibility of the microscope in the public domain offered women the opportunity to engage in research in their own homes. Originally connected with the elite male scientists, nineteenth century microscopes could now be found in the homes of the middle, and upper class’ as a result of the growth of manufacturing throughout Britain. Although becoming a tool of scientific study, the microscope was still used by amateurs as a method of furthering their own education. Microscopes became a symbol of intelligence and inquiry during the nineteenth century, encouraging those with means to purchase the instrument for its social image.
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In spite of the negative reactions to female scientists in the nineteenth century, women still published scientific works. Maria Somerville, a Scottish science writer, is considered by contemporary academics as the “Queen of Nineteenth Century Science.” She published books on microscope, such as Molecular and Microscopic Science (1869.) Unlike many of her female counterparts, she had no exposure to the sciences by her family. Quite the opposite, her parents actively forbad her study to mathematics and science. When her father discovered that she was reading mathematics, he stated that “We must put a stop to this, or we shall have Mary in a straitjacket.”
Portrait of Lady Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, Sir Godfrey Kneller (?), 1683. Source found at The Harley Gallery
Mary Somerville. Source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Popular Science & Children's Literature
Children’s literature became a surprising avenue for women to write about science. Women, such as Maria Edgeworth, and Arabella Buckley were able to step into the role of popular science writers. Due to her gender, and position in the scientific community, Buckley was able to fill the role of educator to children. Born into a wealthy family, Buckley worked as an assistant to Charles Lyell, a prominent Scottish geologist, until his death in 1875. She published many books, including Through Magic Glasses and Other Lectures (1890) which aimed to educate children in an array of scientific topics. She wrote her books in the style of a mother teaching her children. She outlined many accepted laws of science, and offered insight into how to correctly use a microscope for the child’s own studies.
Maria Edgeworth, another prominent children’s literature writer, argued that “our books of science were full of unintelligible jargon,” which the public could not begin to comprehend. During the late eighteenth century, science books were beginning to be published in english rather than latin, beginning the process of making science accessible to those outside of the scientific community. Women like Maria Edgeworth, and Arabella Buckley, brought a sense of wonderment to the teaching of science, while scientists worked towards removing any semblance of imagination from scientific rhetoric.
Book cover of Arabella Buckley's Through Magic Glasses (1890) Source: Project Gutenberg.
In the age of scientific enlightenment, public interest grew in the stories of fictional lands, creatures, and fairy tales. The microscope opened up a new miniature world to the popular imagination; a place where before the microscope, small creatures lived without our knowing. Fairy-science literature emerged as children’s literature represented the microscopic, and fairy world as one indistinguishable environment. Books such as, Fairy Frisket: or, Peeps at Insect Life (1874) and, Fairy Know-a-bit; or a Nutshell of Knowledge (1866) became methods for parents, and teachers to educate their children. The Victorian fairy reflected the adults encouragement for their child to look closer into the natural world.