Margaret Bryan (c.1760 1816) taught natural science to women at a time when it was largely the preserve of men. She ran a boarding school for girls in Blackheath, London, from 1795 to 1806, and the curriculum included mathematics and sciences rarely offered to young women. She published her lecture notes on astronomy in 1797, and after their positive reception she decided to undertake another volume of lectures. This resulting work, published in 1806, is a collection of Bryan's lectures on 'natural philosophy', containing thirteen chapters on topics such as mechanics, pneumatics and...

Throughout her lifetime, Margaret Bryan (fl. 1795 1816) ran several schools for girls. Although science and maths were not usually considered suitable subjects for young women, Bryan was convinced that the use of one's reasoning faculties was all but a religious obligation. She taught across a huge range of topics, including optics, trigonometry and the history of astronomy. This book is a collection of ten of her lectures and was first published in 1797. Largely non-technical and written for those without a thorough knowledge of mathematics, the lectures explain contemporary science as...