Rosina Maria Zornlin (1794–1859)

Rosina Maria Zornlin was born in London, England, the second daughter of John Jacob Zornlin, a wealthy investment broker of Swiss background, and his wife Elizabeth Alsager. Her paternal uncle Thomas Alsager was a financial journalist and a part owner and manager of The Times of London. She became a science writer and popularize of science. Her early books, such as What is a Comet, Papa? (1835) and What is a Voltaic Battery? (1842), were aimed at children. Later she wrote more for adult readers, with works such as Recreations in Geology (1841); Recreations in Physical Geography, or the Earth as It Is (1840); and The World of Waters (1843). She was an invalid for most of her life. Her older sister Georgiana Zornlin also became a writer.