Pandora’s Breeches: Women, Science & Power in the Enlightenment

“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 19th century, yet they found other ways to participate in science. Taking a fresh look at history, Patricia Fara investigates how women contributed to scientific progress. As well as collaborating in home-based research, women corresponded with renowned scholars and simplified important texts. Throughout this work, Fara shows how they played essential roles in work frequently attributed to their husbands or fathers. Patricia Fara lectures on at Cambridge University. She is the author of the highly praised work Newton: The Making of Genius.