Mary Somerville (1780-1872) chose to study science and mathematics, even when society tried to tell her she was only good for keeping house. She found her own way in a world dominated by men. And became a self-taught preeminent astronomer and mathematician.
Mary Somerville (1780-1872) chose to study science and mathematics, even when society tried to tell her she was only good for keeping house. She found her own way in a world dominated by men. And became a self-taught preeminent astronomer and mathematician.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re highlighting women who’ve led dynamic lives. Ones that have shifted, evolved and bloomed, often later in life.
Today, we’re focusing on a woman who chose to study science and mathematics, even when society tried to tell her she was only good for keeping house. She found her own way in a world dominated by men. And became a self-taught preeminent astronomer and mathematician.
Let’s meet Mary Somerville.
Mary was born Mary Fairfax in December 1780 in Jedburgh, Scotland. Her mother was a devout Christian, and rarely read anything other than the bible. Her father was a sea captain.
When Mary was a young child, the family moved to Burntisland, Scotland. It was a small, quiet town on the sea. Those early years, her father was off fighting in the war. Her mother was focused on raising Mary and her older brother Samuel.
One of Mary’s earliest recollections took place one August evening in 1783. Her brother was playing on the floor when he called out: “O, mama, there’s the moon rinnin’ awa [runnin’ away].”
In fact, the moon was not trying to run away. The object shooting across the sky was a meteor.
Mary’s brother went to live with their grandfather in Edinburgh. There, he attended high school. Meanwhile, Mary was designing her own education. She loved birds and would watch the goldfinches feast on the thistles in their garden. She’d delight in the goofy fat geese lumbering around the town. The swallows building nests above the windows. And of course, the birdsong.
Mary was curious and bright, but, at the age of nine, she couldn’t write, and she was a poor reader. When she was ten, she was sent to a boarding school to learn a women’s education. That involved memorizing pages of the dictionary and wearing a stiff metal frame to improve her posture. Girls and women weren’t taught things like Latin or science.
Mary stayed there for a year. But, she graduated with barely-improved writing skills, and a renewed desire to explore.
Back in Burntisland, Mary wandered the seaside town, examining the sea urchins and starfish, and shells that she found. She was seen as a wild child.
In another attempt to make her socially-acceptable, Mary was sent to a school in the village to improve her needlework. This was not the education she desired, though she was skilled at it.
She later wrote that she quote: “thought it unjust that women should have been given a desire for knowledge if it were wrong to acquire it.”
One day, Mary was leafing through a fashion magazine someone had leant her. At the bottom of a page, there was a strange line of letters and numbers. When Mary asked a friend about it, she learned it was called algebra. She couldn’t get it out of her head.
In 1804, Mary married her cousin, the Russian Admiral, Samuel Greig. They moved to a small home in London, where she spent a lot of her time alone. Mary’s husband did not approve of her interest in algebra and science, which made their short marriage difficult. He died in 1807, leaving her a widow, with two young children.
Mary was now tasked with raising her children alone. However, she was also now able to study as she pleased – trigonometry, astronomy, calculus. By the time she was 33, Mary had finally gathered a library of books that would teach her what she had yearned for all these years. She dove in head first.
Mary later wrote: “I was considered eccentric and foolish, and my conduct was highly disapproved of by many, especially by some members of my own family [...] They expected me to entertain and keep a gay house for them, and in that they were disappointed. As I was quite independent, I did not care for their criticism.”
By 1812, Mary had married another cousin, William Somerville. Unlike her first husband, William was proud of Mary’s scientific prowess.
In 1826, when she was in her mid-40s, Mary published her first scientific paper. All of her studying and learning had coalesced into a penchant for astronomy. The next year, she started a four-year process of writing a book about astronomy for a general audience.
This all happened at a time when there wasn’t even a gender-neutral term for someone who studied science. That didn’t come about until 1834, when a British historian and philosopher named William Whewell created one: “scientist.”
In fact, William first wrote the word ”scientist” in print when he was reviewing one of Mary’s books, titled “On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences.”
Over the years, Mary wrote updated editions of the book. In one of those editions, she noted something strange in her calculations of the orbit of the planet Uranus. This suggestion inspired another astronomer to expand on this work, and years later, he discovered Neptune.
Mary continued to publish science books. Her fourth came out in 1869 when she was 88 years old. Mary was also always political in her own ways. And in her later years, she became outspoken in her support for women’s suffrage.
At the end of her life, Mary described her own scientific process: “if I do not succeed today, I will attack [the problem] again on the morrow.”
Mary Somerville died in 1872, at the age of 91.
Her contributions to science and her presence are still felt today: A ship, an Oxford college, and an asteroid were all named after her. And in 2017, she became the face of the Scottish 10 pound note.
All month, we’re highlighting dynamos. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!