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My sister Alice bought me this book for my Christmas present. It was a perfect present as it was a subject that is interesting but I know next to nothing about. It was a nice easy read, a popular history but still a very interesting and well-written text. Fara has a very interesting historical approach, she complains about feminist approaches to history that re-emphasise a woman’s role and place a-historical values on the past. (quote from chapter). Instead she looks at the interactions between men and women and how this produces different results. Rather than simply focusing on one gender, she focuses on society as a whole. By looking at how both genders interact it’s much easier to see their roles in society. In her book Fara focuses on the interaction between famous scientists and the women who impacted their work in some way, either through letters, assistance with research, or by disseminating their ideas after their death.
The chapters were divided into pairings, Elisabeth of Bohemia/Descartes, Anne Conway/ Leibniz, Emilie du Chatelet/ Newton, Jane Dee/ John Dee, Elisabetha Hevelius/Johannes Hevelius, Caroline Herschel/ William Herschel, Marie Paulze/ Antoine Lavoisier, Priscilla Wakefield/ Carl Linnaeus and Mary Shelly/ Victor Frankenstein. The only trouble with this approach was that it reduced a lot of the historical discussion to biography. By focusing on specific individuals it was hard to place them in the greater debate (or discourse) about the interaction between women and scientific discovery. It was hard to know how representative these women were. One thing that was very interesting was the repeated references to the salons held by women in France. From the way the work was presented it seemed like the continent had a much better appreciation for women. However, its hard to say if this is a result of the choices made in presentation for example Jane Dee and Elisabetha Hevelius both living in England seemed to have rather unpleasant and unappreciated lives compared with their European counterparts.
The chapters are divided into three parts, the impact of women on philosophy and physics, the role that women played as assistants within the home, and lastly how women’s role in science grew and changed, with the emphasis changing to Botany as an accepted branch of science for women to study. The last section was definitely the one that seemed to incorporate the largest view of women and society. I found her discussion about Mary Shelly to be so interesting I immediately started reading Frankenstein after I was finished with this book.
All in all it was a very interesting book on a fascinating subject. I think I would have preferred a little less biographical approach to the work, but the biographies included were insightful. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an alternate view, or a more detailed view on the Enlightenment.
The chapters were divided into pairings, Elisabeth of Bohemia/Descartes, Anne Conway/ Leibniz, Emilie du Chatelet/ Newton, Jane Dee/ John Dee, Elisabetha Hevelius/Johannes Hevelius, Caroline Herschel/ William Herschel, Marie Paulze/ Antoine Lavoisier, Priscilla Wakefield/ Carl Linnaeus and Mary Shelly/ Victor Frankenstein. The only trouble with this approach was that it reduced a lot of the historical discussion to biography. By focusing on specific individuals it was hard to place them in the greater debate (or discourse) about the interaction between women and scientific discovery. It was hard to know how representative these women were. One thing that was very interesting was the repeated references to the salons held by women in France. From the way the work was presented it seemed like the continent had a much better appreciation for women. However, its hard to say if this is a result of the choices made in presentation for example Jane Dee and Elisabetha Hevelius both living in England seemed to have rather unpleasant and unappreciated lives compared with their European counterparts.
The chapters are divided into three parts, the impact of women on philosophy and physics, the role that women played as assistants within the home, and lastly how women’s role in science grew and changed, with the emphasis changing to Botany as an accepted branch of science for women to study. The last section was definitely the one that seemed to incorporate the largest view of women and society. I found her discussion about Mary Shelly to be so interesting I immediately started reading Frankenstein after I was finished with this book.
All in all it was a very interesting book on a fascinating subject. I think I would have preferred a little less biographical approach to the work, but the biographies included were insightful. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an alternate view, or a more detailed view on the Enlightenment.