Scientific Lives

Much against his mother's consent, [Sir Kenelm Digby] married that celebrated beauty and courtesan, Mrs Venetia Stanley,... He would say that a handsome lusty man who was discreet might make a virtuous wife out of a brothel-house. This lady carried herself blamelessly, yet (they say) he was jealous of her. She died suddenly, and hard-hearted women would censure him severely

This new selection from Brief Lives, John Aubrey's enormous work of seventeenth-century biography, brings together his writings on contemporary scientists, explorers and men of innovation, including astronomer Edmund Halley, celebrated mapmaker Wenceslaus Hollar and the explorer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh

Scientific Lives offers a portrait by turns witty, serious and droll, of the notable figures of Aubrey's day. Quirky, amusing and informative, Aubrey's writing is the epitome of an exciting and inventive age.

Antiquary and biographer John Aubrey (1626--97) was born near Malmesbury in Wiltshire. A member of the Royal Society, Aubrey was acquainted with some of the most distinguished writers, politicians, scientists and aristocrats of his time, along with numerous other prominent figures. He is chiefly known for his short, lively biographical pieces.

Ruth Scurr teaches at the University of Cambridge, specialising in eighteenth-century France. She is a regular reviewer for the Times and the Times Literary Supplement. Her biography of Robespierre, Fatal Purity, was published in 2006