Mary Fairfax Somerville
Personal Information
Born: 1780
Died: 1872
Country of Birth: UK
Nationality: UK
Ethnicity: White
Education
age 10-1 yr boarding school; self-taught
Professional Life
Field of Study: Mathematics; Astronomy; Polymath
Institution/Corporation: none
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Royal Astronomical Society (1835) Royal Irish Academy (1834) Bristol Philosophical Institution (1834) Societe de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Geneve (1834) American Geographical & Statistical Society (1857) Italian Geographical Society (1870) American Philosophical Society (1870)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1869 Patron's Gold Medal; 1870 Victoria Gold Medal Royal Geographical Society for her book Physical Geography;2020 Google Doodle; Named for her are a 10 pound Scottish bank note a college at Oxford a house & square in Brentisland where she lived a high school for girls in Australia a committee room of the Scottish Parliment in Edinburgh an island in the Barrow Strrait an 1835 boat (later lost at sea) an asteroid a lunar crater a 2017 10 pound British bank note a 2022 satelitte
Achievements: "with Caroline Herschel the 1st female elected to the Royal Astronomical Society (1835); friends with Ada Lovelace & they would meet for tea & discuss mathematics problems; popularized science & put it into terms non-scientists could understand; scientific historian William Whewell coined the term ""scientist"" to refer to her in his review of her 2nd book as all previous references were to ""men of science"" & she did not fit this description"
Astronomer & mathematician instrumental in the discovery of Neptune
Published 5 solutions in Volumes 3 & 4 of the Mathematical Repository under the pseudonym "A Lady"
Said to be the world's 1st scientist because "man of science" didn't fit her
Struggled to get her work accepted due to the long-held belief women weren't intelligent enough to study science
1835, she & Caroline Herschel were the 1st women elected to the Royal Astronomical Society
At age 33 bought herself a library of scientific books
Her 2nd husband, Dr. William Somerville, encouraged her education & scientific pursuits
Was a math tutor and friend of Ada Lovelace
Produced an early version of the optical spectrometer
Was asked to translate "Mecanique Celeste" by Pierre-simon Laplace & produced a translation & expanded version of the 1st two volumes; wrote a standalone exposition of the mathematics behind the workings of the solar system
1848, published "Physical Geography" the 1st English textbook on the subject
1868, at the age of 87, was the 1st person to sign John stuart Mills' unsuccessful petition for female suffrage.