She also had an interest in science. In her note to Darwin, she had one simple request. It was based on a shocking encounter she’d had at a meeting of women in Boston. Someone had taken the position of arguing that “the inferiority of women; past, present and future” was “based upon scientific principles,” Kennard writes. The authority that allowed this person to make such an outrageous statement apparently came from no less than one of Darwin’s own books.
