Science and speculation. Studies in Hellenistic theory and practice

childhood and adolescence left by male historians such as John Gillis, whose chapter on Victorian adolescence in Youth and history (1974) is tellingly entitled 'Boys will be boys'. Gorham provides a thorough summary of recent secondary material, and an illuminating introduction to the use of autobiographical sources. The complex and sometimes contradictory requirements of the feminine role as it developed throughout the nineteenth century are wellillustrated and wittily described. But I was left with a feeling that little new had been said, and that deeper and more subtle historical explanations of the creation of gender differences are needed than those contained in a model of prescription and conformity. Charlotte Mackenzie Wellcome Institute