Description
Book SynopsisTraces the division of natural philosophy into the categories of philosophy and science, and the marginalization of women as intellectuals. Here, scholars of gender, women's history, and the history of philosophy and science write on these themes, allowing the opportunity for cross-cultural analysis into the history of both science and women.
Trade ReviewThe essays are widely dispersed geographically—a real virtue of this volume—and cover a broad range of subjects from the role of gender in early modern natural philosophy, both learned and popular, to the concept of "household science" to the work of various women philosophers, astronomers, medical practitioners, and experimenters. They bring to bear significant new research or, in other instances, a reconceptualization of an important subject.
-- Paula Findlen, Stanford University
An original and diverse set of essays that looks afresh at the roles of women in the Scientific Revolution. These readable essays provide an excellent counterpoint to the standard narratives of the era.
-- Anita Guerrini, University of California, Santa Barbara
Of particular value is the distinctly international and comparative perspective brought to bear in the volume.... This eclectic and provocative compilation will undoubtedly be of interest to an array of scholars teaching and conducting research in the areas of early modern history, the history of science, philosophy, and gender studies.
* Nuncius: Journal of the History of Science *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Judith P. Zinsser
SECTION I—WOMEN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS
Queen Christina's Metamorphosis—Her Alchemical World Soul and Fictional Gender Transformation: Susanna Åckerman
Margaret Cavendish and the Microscope as Play: Hilda L. Smith
The Many Representations of the Marquise Du Chtelet: Judith P. Zinsser
SECTION II—SHIFTING LANGUAGE, SHIFTING ROLES
The Gender of Nature and the Nature of Gender in Early Modern Natural Philosophy: Margaret J. Osler
Neither Natural Philosophy, Nor Science, Nor Literature—Gender, Writing, and the Pursuit of Nature in Fontenelle's Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes habités: J. B. Shank
Minerva and Venus—Algarotti's Newton's Philosophy for the Ladies: Franco Arato
SECTION III—WOMEN, MEN, AND THE NEW SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT
Women and Science in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries—Different Social Practices, Different Textualities, and Different Kinds of Science: Lynette Hunter
Joanna Stephen's Medicine and the Experimental Philosophy: Stephen Clucas
The Invisible Economy of Science—A New Approach to the History of Gender and Astronomy at the Eighteenth-Century Berlin Academy of Sciences: Monika Mommertz, Translated by Julia Baker
Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova and Women's Issues in Russia in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: Grigory A. Tishkin, Translated by Albina Krymskaya
Suggested Readings
Index
List of Contributors
