Jane Marcet (1769–1858)

Conversations on chemistry (1806)

Jane Marcet was married to a chemist and counted many prominent scientists of her day as friends, including Mary Somerville, a mathematician and astronomer.  Marcet wrote several elementary books on science to introduce the subject to a general audience.  Conversations on chemistry, published anonymously in 1805, was her best-known work; Marcet wrote the text and produced the illustrations.  She intended her book primarily for the education of women and conceived it as a series of ‘familiar conversations’ between a teacher, Mrs Bryant, and her pupils, Emily and Caroline.   This format, she believed, was better suited to women whose ‘education is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas of scientific language.’   Marcet evidently understood that by writing science books she would be seen as trespassing on territory typically occupied by men.   Despite her keen attention to detail, she apologises for any ‘faults’ in her work and describes her substantial expertise in science as ‘her little stock of chemical knowledge’.

‘the author was more than once checked in her progress by the apprehension that such an attempt might be considered by some, either as unsuited to the ordinary pursuits of her sex, or ill justified by her own recent and imperfect knowledge of the subject. But, on the one hand, she felt encouraged by the establishment of those public institutions, open to both sexes, for the dissemination of philosophical knowledge, which clearly prove that the general opinion no longer excludes women from an acquaintance with the elements of science.’

Marcet was not identified as the author of Conversations on chemistry until the twelfth edition.  The book was re-issued in sixteen editions and remained a popular science textbook into the early 20th century.  While her books were popular among a broad readership, including children, Conversations on chemistry is perhaps most important for introducing the experimental sciences to women.  However, it was also read by men, including Michael Faraday, the chemist and physicist who went on to make discoveries in the field of electricity and electrochemistry.