Mary Somerville

Born on 26 December 1780 in Jedburgh, Scotland, Mary Fairfax Somerville was a science writer and polymath. Although she received almost no formal education, typical for girls of that time, Somerville read extensively on a variety of subjects, including mathematics and astronomy. Twice married, she was supported and encouraged in her academic pursuits by her second husband, William Somerville, a surgeon and fellow of the Royal Society. At age 45 Somerville published her first scientific paper, “On the magnetizing power of the more refrangible solar rays” (1826). One of her most notable projects was the writing of an English rendition of Pierre-Simon Laplace’s Mécanique Céleste, which she published as The Mechanism of the Heavens in 1831. In 1835 Somerville and Caroline Herschel became the first women to be elected honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society. Somerville’s most popular publication was Physical Geography (1848), for which she received the Patron’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1869. She continued to publish scientific texts until she was 89 years old.

Date in History: 26 December 1780