Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769 1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume work Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of...

Jane Haldimand Marcet (1769 1858) was a pioneer in the field of education who wrote accessible introductory books on science and economics. Noting that women's education 'is seldom calculated to prepare their minds for abstract ideas', she resolved to write books that would inform, entertain and improve a generation of female readers. First published anonymously in 1805, her two-volume Conversations on Chemistry swiftly became a standard primer going through sixteen editions in England alone, and is credited with having influenced the young Michael Faraday. Presented as a series of...