Articles

Every invention, discovery, event, happens in a context of human knowledge and activity. This timeline provides a glimpse of some of the events before and during the establishment of Christian Science and the organization designed to preserve and forward it.

Gillian Gill is the author of a recent biography, Mary Baker Eddy (Reading, MA: Perseus Books, Radcliffe Biography Series, 1998). Dr.

TOWARD the end of May in 1902, Mary Baker Eddy wrote to some friends, with her usual depth of thought: "Those to whom I whispered the name I had given my 'book' laughed at me, and said it was not suitable, even as before, my literary friends had advised me not to write such a book; and my students had said nobody will understand it. But the courage of my convictions never failed.

Kathryn Koliss spent a decade working in alternative medicine, before entering Harvard Divinity School's Master of Divinity program. The focus of her studies is spirituality and healing, and her research revolves around the work of Mary Baker Eddy, healing accounts in the New Testament, and comparative cross-cultural religious healing practices.

Mary Baker Eddy's tastes in food were those of a Victorian New Englander. Boiled dinner (beef brisket boiled with vegetables) and baked beans were weekly fare, according to a notebook kept in about 1900 by her cook, Minnie Weygandt.

The primary function of a research library is to make information available and accessible. Often this information comes in the form of original documents.

There's a great way to visit The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity at any time of the day or night — go to the Library's Web site at www. marybakereddylibrary.

James Albins is the manager of program development for The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. He speaks here about two of the Library's research programs — "American Women in Religious Leadership" and "Spirituality and Health.

Lesley Pitts is manager of the archives at The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. Here, she gives a glimpse of what a visit to the reference and research libraries will be like when they open to the public later this year.

Chet Manchester is the creative director for The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. In this role, he has worked with a team of researchers, writers, and designers to produce a learning experience for all ages.