Mary Somerville 1780-1872
Portrait of Mary Somerville (out of copyright)
“Queen of 19th century science” - Science writer and polymath
Mary Somerville was born in Jedburgh but spent her childhood at Burntisland where the house she lived in still stands. Her education was erratic: at aged nine she was unable to write. Her schooling was not meant to stretch her – the very opposite – yet she managed surreptitiously to study Latin, Algebra and Geometry.
In 1804 she married Samuel Greig who actively discouraged her studies. Widowed in 1807 with two children, she returned to Burntisland, where she could take up her studies again as she now had an independent income. In 1812 she married her cousin William Somerville who was supportive of her studies.
On a European tour in 1817 she met leading scientists, most significantly Laplace. He famously said to her that only three women could understand his work – “These are yourself, Mrs Somerville, Caroline Herschel and a Mrs Greig of whom I know nothing.” – (Mary being the first and third of these!).
Her life changed in March 1827 when she was asked to write an account of Laplace's Mecanique Celeste. Mechanism of the Heavens was published in 1832 and warmly received by the scientific community. The preface known as the Preliminary Dissertation was published later and was probably the only part of the work that could be read by non-mathematicians. It established Mary's reputation as a brilliant scientific writer.
She was asked to write a second volume to complete Laplace's works. On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences was published in 1834. From 1840 she lived in Italy. She wrote her last major work Physical Geography there. It was published in 1848 to favourable reviews and used as a textbook for many years.