Forgetting Women
Only in the twelfth edition did Jane Marcet’s name appear in her own book. Image courtesy of the Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, CHF.
September 7, 2010 | Michal Meyer
Looking at much of the popular history of science it might seem that women appeared on the scene only recently. Where are the female scientists of the 19th century? They did exist, and many were famous, though almost all are mostly forgotten now. Most notable were Caroline Herschel and Maria Mitchell in astronomy, Mary Somerville in mathematics and physics, and Jane Marcet in chemistry.
The latter two, in particular, helped create these scientific subjects in the public mind. In the 19th century Mary Somerville was known as the Queen of Science for her work and her books on science. Jane Marcet’s chemistry book was published in sixteen editions over almost half a century (CHF has three editions). And many other women labored in science as translators, writers of popular science, scientific illustrators, and in the doing of science. Why, then, did even the well-known women disappear from the public imagination?
Many scientific women labored in public obscurity, though their work was known within the scientific community of the day. Often they were the wives, sisters, or daughters of scientific men and so received a good scientific education before they went on to help their male relatives in science. Many published anonymously. Though Marcet admitted in the introduction to her book that the author was female, the first eleven editions of her Conversations on Chemistry were published anonymously.
Female celebrity was tricky to navigate in the 19th century and authors such as Marcet took great care in how they presented themselves to the public. Ultimately, though, authors such Somerville and Marcet were forgotten because they never made fabulous discoveries that could be fitted into a narrative of scientific progress. Nowadays it’s clear to us what parts of nature belong to physics and to chemistry, but back in the first half of the 19th century it wasn’t so obvious. Women such as Somerville and Marcet helped make it obvious—and we rarely remember the obvious.
The International Year of Chemistry kicks off in January 2011 and one of its goals is to celebrate the contributions of women to science. Let’s hope some forgotten women of the past become better known as a result.