Acknowledgements Chapter 1. A lady’s electrical machine 1. 1821 – Bookseller Van Benthem auctions the estate of Hillegonda Catharina Schorer 2. Writing history with an abundance of questions and scarcely any source material 3. Tracing the lost lives of women: the Schorer and Van Citters families 4. Introduction to the Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames in Middelburg Chapter 2. Newton and the wider public in the eighteenth century 1. 1800 – The attraction of the electric kiss 2. Experimental science as public performance 3. Newtonianism and God’s hand in Nature 4. Sociability, manners, and commerce 5. Popular textbooks 6. Enlightened ideals Chapter 3. The foundation of the Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames 1. 1785 – Van de Perre delivers his opening speech 2. Opposition and defence 3. Who were the ladies present? 4. Why a separate society? 5. Why Middelburg? Chapter 4. The ladies' lessons. And the gentlemen's 1. 1797 – Daniël Radermacher introduces his orrery 2. Support from male regents 3. Shared instruments 4. Ballot and Nollet 5. The De Kanter period 6. Subsequent lecturers and their favourite subjects Chapter 5. Shifting panels. Social developments in the nineteenth century 1. 1860 – An afternoon in Zeeland with Dorcas 2. Poverty and charity in Middelburg 3. Sociability between tradition and modernization 4. The world of domestic happiness 5. Improvements in girls' education 6. Nature and technology: the opposing trends of popularization amd professionalization Chapter 6. The end of the Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames 1. 1888 – The gentlemen assemble to decide on female membership 2. Women in scientific societies 3. Final years, final members 4. Epilogue: the legacy of the ladies of Middelburg Notes Bibliography List of members of the Natuurkundig Genootschap der Dames List of figures Index of names