Jane Marcet and the limits to public science

This essay examines Jane Marcet's 1806 Conversations on Chemistry in the co ntext of a newly emerging ideology of science. As part of this emergence, a new public for chemistry had to be formed and clearly demarcated from that of 'public men' of science. Although this essay examines Marcet's relation to Humphry Davy's public lectures on chemistry, it focuses on the encourag ement she received from the highly intellectual Geneva elite, to whom she w as related. Comparing her work to the influential Bibliotheque britannique founded by members of this elite, it asks why a group of patrician intellec tuals would want to cultivate women's interest in chemistry and encourage t he popularization of science in the aftermath of a revolution which threate ned their national identity and power. It suggests that the answer may lie in the recourse to science to establish moral and political authority in th e aftermath of this very revolution.