Eliza Burt Gamble

Born in Michigan in 1841, Eliza Burt Gamble became known as an American author, reformer, and social critic. She wrote during a period of intense debate about religion, science, and women's rights, and her books often brought those subjects together in ambitious, provocative ways.

She is best remembered for works including The God-Idea of the Ancients; or, Sex in Religion and The Evolution of Woman. In these books, she examined the history of religious thought and argued for a larger place for women in human history, often using ideas from evolution and comparative religion to make her case.

Gamble died in 1920, but her writing still stands out for its fearless tone and wide scope. Readers interested in early feminist thought, freethought, and nineteenth-century debates about society and belief may find her especially compelling.