She wrote articles on the various subjects of scientific culture in Berlin during the time of Frederick the Great[2] and French science in the Age of Enlightenment.
[4] She notably wrote a book and several articles on Pierre Louis Maupertuis, a French philosopher, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and naturalist of the 18th Century who contributed to the various theories of Isaac Newton and formulated the stationary-action principle.
[5][6][7] Terrall also described and analyzed the way Maupertuis used literary techniques to recount his expedition to Lapland in the form of an adventure story, so as to interest a wider audience.
[8] She wrote an article describing his use of anonymity when publishing controversial work, though presenting it as neutral.
[9] Additionally, she took an interest in the work of René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur[10] and the way in which he and other naturalists used literary techniques to tell narratives on animal behaviors.