Chemistry in the Schoolroom

ABOUT THE BOOK 1806: Chemistry lectures were all the rage in fashionable London, and not only for men. But one member of the audience at the Royal Institution thought that women would benefit more from the lectures if there were a suitable book to accompany them. So Jane Marcet wrote Conversations on Chemistry, which features Mrs. B. tutoring two bright teenagers: diligent Emily and ebullient Caroline. The book inspired not only women; Michael Faraday was one of Marcet's many fans, and nearly 160,000 copies of the fifteen editions of the book were eventually sold in Britain and North America. To understand the book's popularity, to enjoy Marcet's fresh approach and elegant diagrams, and to learn much of the social life of the time, today's reader need only dip into these lively selections, introduced by a former tutor of chemistry. Although some of the science may now seem quaint, Mrs. B.'s educational ideas, and Caroline's undisciplined intelligence will strike a chord with many of today's teachers and their former pupils.