But the way we think of arson is new. The way arsonists have been perceived and studied is continually evolving. German scientists were the first to study it, beginning in the late 1700s. They believed, based on anecdotal evidence and prurient wishful thinking, that fires were set predominantly by young peasant women. The suspected cause was puberty—the trauma of menstruation, a sexual development gone awry. Fire starting was an illness of tragic, hysterical, impoverished women who lacked coping skills and were victims of the unpredictability of female biology.
