Emma attended St Paul's Girls' School. She studied history at King's College, Cambridge then specialised in history of science, receiving a Masters from Imperial College, London. She then returned to Cambridge for doctoral studies in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Before writing up her thesis she left Cambridge to sign to East West Records, part of Warner Music. She began teaching undergraduates in Cambridge and subsequently taught in adult education for over 15 years, including for the Workers Educational Association, Birkbeck and Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education; she was also a Visiting Lecturer at City University, London.