Author of the Fairy- Land of Science, A Short History of Natural Science etc
Arabella Burton Buckley (24 October 1840 – 9 February 1929)[1] was a writer and science educator.[2]
Buckley was born in Brighton, England.[1][3] Her brother was Henry Buckley, 1st Baron Wrenbury. At the age of 24, she went to work as secretary to Charles Lyell, and remained with him until his death in 1875, on which Charles Darwin wrote to her to commiserate with her. After that, she began lecturing and writing on science.
Being Charles Lyell's assistant and a female put her in good standing to educate youth. One of Buckley's earlier pieces, The Fairy-Land of Science, puts her views of science in a children's book setting, much like a mother educating her child. Her work was labelled as lectures rather than chapters, mirroring how she would teach young people. One of her lectures, "The Two Great Sculptors - Water and Ice" emphasizes how water and ice create hills, crevasses and valleys much as a sculptor will create a statue using a chisel. It also describes how water always needs somewhere to go and often takes part of the land with it, causing cliffs to fall apart leaving faults and intrusions behind.[4] She saw no contradiction in using fancy to present fact, writing of the natural world: "Can any magic tale be more marvellous, or any thought grander, or more sublime than this?"[5]
Her books were translated into Japanese, Polish and Swedish in her lifetime.
In Buckley's time, male scientists often had female assistants and included some of their findings in the lead scientists' work. The women themselves generally would not be labelled scientists, and so did not receive any acknowledgement.[6]
Arabella Buckley died of influenza at her home, 3 Boburg Terrace, Sidmouth, Devon, on 9 February 1929.[1]