This project, which was set up by Professor Margaret C. Jacob, examined the extent to which cultural differences influenced the speed and ways in which various West-European countries became industrialised. The project focused on the ways in which various groups in early nineteenth century Europe were responsible for spreading the new standards and insight that stimulated industrial activities, and the ideas behind these groups' actions. Within the framework of this project, the researchers looked into the Ladies' Society of Natural Sciences in Middelburg, which was probably the very first scientific organisation for women in the western world. The aim of the society, which was established in 1785 and finally disbanded in 1887, was to acquaint women with the new natural sciences that had radically changed the face of the world since the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. Over the period of one whole century, a select group of upper class Middelburg ladies spent the winter months receiving fortnightly lessons in various scientific and astronomical phenomena from a private male tutor whom they had hired in. Although there is very little authentic archive material left, there are indications that during the course of the nineteenth century, the steady stream of tutors also turned their attention to biological, meteorological, geographical, geological, chemical and technological subjects such as the workings of steam engines, telegraphy and the industrial manufacture of gas and food. The very existence of this scientific society undermines the traditional concept of women and natural sciences, which assumes that women, as a result of their nature or of age-old historical developments, are far less interested than men in the natural sciences and technology. The activities undertaken by the Middelburg ladies illustrate that, to the contrary, these women were very interested in the natural sciences, and that this only came to an end at a relatively late stage. The research into the rise and decline of this Society is an attempt to answer the question of who these women were, where their interest for the sciences originated, why they organised themselves into a separate society and which factors caused this female interest in scientific experiments to decline, or in any case become less evident at the end of the nineteenth century. Just as in the research into the Middelburg ladies' society, social acceptance and the status of the natural sciences is also the theme of the second research component of this project, which looked into developments within the educational system of the Southern Netherlands between 1795 and 1830. The researchers screened the various forms of education in four separate cities (Gent, Liège, Maastricht and Mons) in search of changes in the curriculum that might indicate an interest in technology, industrialisation and modern scientific insight. The research into local records was supplemented by research in the central Government archives in France and the Netherlands, as the Southern Netherlands were at that time part of France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands respectively. Who invented the new education plans, which innovations actually took place, what were the exact motives and ideas behind the changes and why were so many invaluable plans never put into operation? Education would appear to be an important cultural factor that could partly explain why the European continent took so long to make up the industrial arrears it had accrued in comparison with England. Not because people were unaware of the importance of technological knowledge, but because for the time being, all kinds of other factors were hindering a wide distribution of this knowledge. Publications: De elektrieke kus. Over vrouwen, fysica en vriendschap in de 18de en 19de eeuw. Het verhaal van het Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames in Middelburg, Amsterdam 2004 More ... 'Bourdieu in de provincie. Over wetenschappelijke sociabiliteit en de distinctieve waarde van sekse', in: De Achttiende Eeuw 42 (2010) no.1, p.16-41. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Verlichte vergezichten. Sterrenkundige conversaties en huiselijke demonstraties rond de salontafels van de achttiende eeuw', in: Jaarboek voor Genealogie 62 (2008). Summary . The article is available as Pdf. 'De elektrieke kus in Middelburg. Over de vrouwelijke omarming van de natuurwetenschappen in de 18e en 19e eeuw', in: H.J. van Elburg en F. Zuurveen (eds.), 225 jaar Natuurkundig Gezelschap in Middelburg, Middelburg 2005, p.33-38. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Begeesterd door de Natuur. Radermachers maidenspeech voor het Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames te Middelburg (1790)' in: De Achttiende Eeuw, 36 (2004) no.2, p.123-131. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Het einde van het Damesfysica. Natuurkundige fascinatie en vrouwelijke sociabiliteit in de negentiende eeuw', in: Historica 27 (2004) no.2, p.6-8. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. with Margaret C. Jacob, 'A women's scientific society in the West: the late eighteenth-century assimilation of science', submitted to Isis. International review devoted to the history of science and its cultural influences 94 (2003), p.216-252. Summary. The article is available as Pdf. 'Une société savante exclusivement féminine: présage des temps modernes ou vestige de l'Ancien Régime?', in: Annales historiques de la Révolution française (2001) no.4, p.117-128. Summary. The article is available as Pdf.