The under-representation of women in senior echelons of the academy, particularly in disciplines which have been historically male-dominated and male-led, is well-documented internationally. The narrative, however, is not a linear one, and there have been intervals of alteration and narrow apertures of opportunity. This article focuses on one of…

For over half a century, starting around 1960, physics education was put under the intellectual microscope of a London-based university lecturer--Dr John Warren. His scrutiny of physics textbooks and examination papers in particular led him to conduct a sustained assault on error, ambiguity and lack of rigour in the presentation of our subject.…

In the years around 1900, more women were benefiting from a university education and using it as a pathway to acquiring research expertise and contributing to the development of scientific knowledge. Although numbers were small compared with men, it is clear that the idea of a female researcher was no longer an oddity. As illustrated by…

Chemistry instruction was introduced in England under the leadership of A. W. Hofmann. Brief description is included of its development in successive years. (PS)

Given the prominence in Victorian society of some of William George Spencer's pupils, his development of an extended curriculum for both sexes, and the fact that his textbook on inventional geometry was considered to be the most Pestalozzian published in England, he remains a remarkably undervalued figure in the history of education. Despite a…