Learning from the Lasses

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About the Book: 

In his time his revolutionary ideas appealed to women and he was surrounded by more than a generation of clever and forceful women. One who could say that ‘life is not really a gladiators’ show; it is rather a vast mothers’ meeting!’ could not fail to attract followers. WALTER STEPHEN

Patrick Geddes – Sociologist, Town Planner, Biologist, Peace Warrior. It is well known that this extraordinary Scot shaped the cityscape of Edinburgh, but for the first time Walter Stephen turns the lens onto the strong, wilful women who influenced the revolutionary man – and who were in turn influenced by him.

From his wife and mother in Scotland, to a nun in India and a Marchioness in Ireland, this insightful volume shows the wide range of women across the globe whose lives intertwined with Geddes’s, whether professionally or personally.

Delving deeper into Geddes’s personal life than ever before, Walter Stephen and his fellow Modern Geddesians go beyond the surface of the Scotsman’s acclaimed works to reveal the female characters that shaped him throughout his life. Contributors include: Veronica Burbridge, Siân Reynolds, Anne-Michelle Slater, Kenny Munro, Swami Narasimhananda, Sofia Leonard, Kenneth MacLean, Robert Morris and Kate Henderson.

About the Author:

WALTER STEPHEN was born in Thurso, Caithness and educated at schools and universities in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with degrees in Geography, Economic History and Education. He was Principal Teacher of Geography in distinguished schools in Fife and Edinburgh, then became the first Adviser in Social Studies in Edinburgh and Senior Adviser in Lothian Region. In schools shrunk by falling student numbers, he set up Castlehill Urban Studies Centre, the first successful Urban Studies Centre in Britain, and the History of Education Centre.

As an independent scholar he has been active in investigating Interesting Victorians and has been responsible for books on Patrick Geddes (planner and polymath), Willie Park Junior (‘The Man who took Golf to the World’), Frank Fraser Darling (born in 1903, but a Victorian in spirit who lived among the red deer and founded the environmental movement) and Charles Darwin (in The Evolution of Evolution: Darwin, Enlightenment and Scotland).