Mary Somerville 1780 – 1872
(née Fairfax)
Physical scientist, writer, mathematics expositor, polymath.
26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872
Mary Somerville 1844; James Rannie Swinton (1816–1888), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Education
Taught to read by her mother and sent at the age of 10 to a boarding school for girls where she stayed, unhappily, for a year.
Sent to a school to be taught needlework.
Taught Latin by her uncle while when she visited him. Later taught herself Greek and was able to read French fluently.
With some support from an older brother she taught herself mathematics.
In her 20s studied mineralogy, astronomy, physics and mathematics.
Some Key Achievements and Interests
1811 Received a silver medal for solution a problem in the Mathematical Repository.
Built a notable reputation in the UK and Europe and acknowledged when she travelled in Europe there despite her not yet having published any work.
1826 Published her first paper, The Magnetic Properties of the Violet Rays of the Solar Spectrum, in the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions.
1831 Published Mechanism of the Heavens, a treatise on gravitational physics, a translation of by Pierre-Simon Laplace’s Méchanique Céleste, but to which she added chapters on the maths of the solar system.
1834 Published On the Connection of the Physical Sciences aimed at a non-specialist audience.
1834 Honorary member of the Société de Physique eet d’Histoire Naturelle de Genéve and the Royal Irish Academy.
1835 Given civil pensions by British Prime Ministers Sir Robert Peel and later William Lamb.
1835 Given Honorary Membership (with Caroline Herschel) of the Royal Astronomical Society. (The RAS admitted women to the Fellowship in 1916).
1842 Predicted a hypothetical planet after Uranus in the 6th edition of her work, The connection of the physical sciences. By the 8th edition, the “prediction had been fulfilled” with the discovery of Neptune.
1848 Published Physical Geography.
1857 Elected to the American Geographical and Statistical Society.
1869 Published Microscopic and Molecular Science.
1870 Elected to the Italian Geographical Society.
1869 or 1870? Received the Victoria Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
1873 Published her autobiography Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age.
1879 Somerville College in Oxford named after her.
Supported anti-slavery campaigns, the promotion of education for women and the opening of doors for women professionally.
Issues
Her parents did not consider a girl needed to receive the same education as a boy. When she tried to educate herself, she was not supported by most family members. Her father feared for her mental health if she took her studies seriously.
Her first husband, Captain Samuel Greig, did not respect women’s intelligence unlike her second husband, Dr William Somerville who supported her to further her career.
She was unable as a woman to use the Royal Society premises so relied on her husband to transcribe journal articles for her. It was also through him that she could be invited to social events at the Royal Society, the Royal Institution and other bodies that otherwise closed their doors to women.
Was widowed after three years of marriage and left with a young son. However, this freed her to devote herself to science.
While her work was feted by some, it also drew condemnation from men who thought this field of study unsuitable for a woman.
Her husband suffered from ill health prompting the family to move to Italy which also made less demands on his limited financial means and milder climate.
Connection to Bloomsbury
1805–1807 Lived Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury early 19th century when married to Samuel Greig and had her first child there
Female Networks
extensive including Ada Lovelace, Lady Byron, Caroline Herschel.
Further Reading
Mary Somerville (1780 – 1872) – Biography – MacTutor History of Mathematics (st-andrews.ac.uk)
Mary Somerville (1780-1872) | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)