Rosina Maria Zornlin (6 December 1795 – 22 May 1859) was a British author who wrote science popularizations and works on religion.

Life and works

Rosina Zornlin was born on 6 December 1795 in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, Essex, England to a literary family. Her father was John Jacob Zornlin, a London merchant of Swiss background. Her mother, Elizabeth Alsager, was the sister of Thomas Massa Alsager and had published some poetry. Her sister, Georgiana Zornlin, was an author and an artist. An invalid, Rosina spent most of her life living with her family in Clapham, Surrey. She was involved with the Clapham Microscopical Society. An amateur astronomer, she published two articles in

The Philosophical Magazine The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Univer ...

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s in 1839 and 1841 and was interested enough in physics to have a paper read to the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

entitled ''On Heat and on the Indestructibility of Elementary Bodies'' in 1858. Zornlin also published two non-fiction books on the Bible narrative and an anti-Catholic novel entitled, ''The Roman Catholic Chapel, or, Lindenhurst Parish'' in 1837.Larsen, p. 178 Many of her earlier works, such as ''What Is a Comet, Papa?'' (1835, James Ridgway & Sons), ''The Solar Eclipse'' (1836, James Ridgway & Sons), and ''What Is a Voltaic Battery?'' (1842, John Parker), were written for children. To make scientific ideas accessible to this younger audience, Zornlin adopted the ‘familiar format’, a fictional literary format that used letters, dialogues, and conversations, customarily situated in a domestic setting. Zornlin's earliest scientific books took advantage of astronomical phenomena like the 1835 approach of Halley's Comet and the 1836

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

visible in England. One reviewer criticized Zornlin because she "unconsciously takes for granted that the pupil is lreadyfamiliar with the phenomena which she undertakes to explain." Zornlin's other scientific books used a clear, textbook style of prose.Larsen, p. 180 Zornlin's other books were geared towards adults and to school use. Several of them sold well enough to go into multiple editions, including ''Recreations in Geology,'' ''The World of Waters'', ''Recreations in Physical Geography.'' All of them reached third editions. Her first book on geology, ''Recreations in Geology'', was published in 1839 and she was heavily influenced by the

Natural Theology Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics (such as the existence of a deity) based on reason and the discoveries of science. This distinguishes it from ...

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work ''Natural T ...

The Voltaic Battery

One of Rosina Zornlin's very well known work is her writing ''What is the Voltaic Battery?'' which was honored in the British Periodicals in 1842. Rosina's writing sets her apart from many because she used different styles, like in ''What is the Voltaic Battery''? she writes in a dialogue between two people. One person (E) asks Mr. C various questions about a voltaic battery including how it works, what its made of, and how much power it can generate. She helped educate people about the voltaic battery by including questions often thought of about the voltaic battery.

Continued Works of Rosina Zornlin

Rosina Zornlin wrote many popular books including ''The World of Waters'' and ''The Earth as It Is'' in which she compares the earth before and after mankind. Rosina Zornlin initially wrote for juvenile readers but eventually wrote more works for adult audiences ranging in many different scientific topics often using dialogues to explain the subject she was writing about. Her style of writing became very popular among many different groups of people, giving them an entertaining way to learn about geology and various other physical sciences.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zornlin, Rosina 1795 births 1859 deaths 19th-century British astronomers English science writers 19th-century British geologists 19th-century British physicists 19th-century British non-fiction writers 19th-century English women writers English women non-fiction writers 19th-century British women scientists British women astronomers British women physicists British women geologists English religious writers Women religious writers People from Walthamstow Writers from Essex British people of Swiss descent