A ciência mediada por mulheres: gênero e saber no livro conversations on chemistry de Jane Marcet

Abstract

In the early 19th century, when women's education was restricted and mediated by conceptions of intellectual inferiority, the writer Jane Marcet wrote a book in the form of a dialogue aimed at a female audience. It proposed introducing complex chemical concepts to readers through situations from their daily lives, articulating science and domestic experience. This book, Conversations on Chemistry, was initially published in 1805 and became a popular work, receiving support from illustrious chemists of the time, who saw the popularization of this science as an important part of its social legitimation. This dissertation presents Jane Marcet's *Conversations on Chemistry* (1817) with the aim of understanding how the female figure was represented in the work, whether as an educator, a scientist, or a curious student. We also seek to understand whether women are shown as capable of understanding and practicing science, or whether the work reinforced traditional roles for women. After all, for Marcet, could women be scientists, or was there a limitation? The initial chapter discusses women's access to scientific knowledge during the Enlightenment and highlights some figures who challenged social norms by participating in intellectual debates. In the central chapter, Marcet's work is examined, with an analysis of selected excerpts that demonstrate the construction of an educational space, the careful language directed at women, and the relationship between science and domestic morality. Through an analytical reading of the book, we found and grouped excerpts into emerging categories that we considered important due to their recurrence in the text and their relevance to the gender issues we sought to observe. Thus, we discussed the following categories: 1) Family Chemistry; 2) Gender Roles; 3) The Role of Women in Science. The research also identifies how Marcet, by translating and popularizing chemical concepts, acts as a mediator of scientific knowledge for women, but without threatening the moral and social conventions that still determined their place in society. Finally, we conclude that Conversations on Chemistry not only instructs on chemistry, but also highlights the gender barriers in science education during the period depicted, proposing a reflection on the limits and possibilities of the relationship between women and science in the 19th century and the strategies they used to appropriate this knowledge. Thus, Marcet's work is an important example of a work that presents the intersection between science, gender issues, and science pedagogy, contributing to the historical understanding of the conditions of access and participation of women in science.