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{{Short description|Scottish scientist (1780–1872)}}
{{for-multi|the BBC executive|Mary Somerville (broadcasting executive)|the American librarian|Mary R. Somerville}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Mary Somerville
| image             = Thomas Phillips - Mary Fairfax, Mrs William Somerville, 1780 - 1872. Writer on science - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption           = ''[[Portrait of Mary Somerville]]'' by [[Thomas Phillips]], 1834
| birth_name        = Mary Fairfax
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1780|12|26}}
| birth_place       = [[Jedburgh]], Scotland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1872|11|29|1780|12|26}}
| death_place       = [[Naples]], Italy
| resting_place     = [[English Cemetery, Naples]]
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| nationality       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| occupation        = 
| alma_mater        = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = 
| spouses           = 
| children          = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| signature         = 
| footnotes         = 
| field             = {{ubl|[[Science writing]]|Mathematics}}
| work_institutions = 
| prizes            = [[Patron's Medal]] (1869)
}}

'''Mary Somerville''' ({{née|'''Fairfax'''}}, formerly '''Greig'''; 1780–1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and [[polymath]]. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and [[Caroline Herschel]] were elected as the first female Honorary Members of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]].

In [[John Stuart Mill]]'s 1866 mass petition to the [[UK Parliament]] to [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|grant women the right to vote]], the first signature on the petition was Somerville's,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Somerville/|title=Mary Fairfax Greig Somerville|last1=O'Connor|first1=J.|last2=Robertson|first2=E.|date=November 1999|access-date=22 August 2025|publisher=University of St. Andrews}}</ref> which she signed before the age of 86.<!--Mild synthesis; she signed it before its presentation to Parliament in 1866, and so was 85 at the oldest.--><ref>{{cite book|url=https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/kinzer-the-collected-works-of-john-stuart-mill-volume-xxviii-public-and-parliamentary-speeches-part-i#lf0223-28_label_658|title=The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I|pp=92–93|last1=Mill|first1=John|editor-last1=Kinzer|editor-first1=Bruce L.|editor-last2=Robson|editor-first2=John M.|access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>

When she died in 1872, ''[[The Morning Post]]'' declared in her obituary that "Whatever difficulty we might experience in the middle of the nineteenth century in choosing a king of science, there could be no question whatever as to the queen of science".<ref name="Boreham">{{cite web |last1=Boreham |first1=Ruth |title=Mary Somerville: Queen of Science |url=http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/03/08/mary-somerville-queen-science/ |website=Dangerous Women |access-date=12 July 2018|date=8 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |title=Mrs. Somerville (Obituary) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/new/396253539/|work=The Morning Post from London |date=2 December 1872}}</ref> Somerville is the first person to be referred to as a "[[scientist]]", as the word was coined in a review by [[William Whewell]] of Somerville's second book ''[[On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences]]''.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29200|title=Whewell, William}}</ref><ref name=Ross1962>{{Cite journal| author = Ross, Sydney | year = 1962 | title = Scientist: The story of a word | journal = [[Annals of Science]] | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 65–85 | doi = 10.1080/00033796200202722| doi-access = free }} To be exact, the person coined the term ''scientist'' was referred to in Whewell 1834 only as "some ingenious gentleman." Ross added a comment that this "some ingenious gentleman" was Whewell himself, without giving the reason for the identification. Ross 1962, p.72.</ref> Beyond her work as a scientist, she is known and celebrated as a mathematician and philosopher.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Secord |first=James |date=2018-01-01 |title=Mary Somerville's vision of science |journal=Physics Today |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=46–52 |doi=10.1063/PT.3.3817 |issn=0031-9228|doi-access=free |bibcode=2018PhT....71a..46S }}</ref>

[[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]], a college of the [[University of Oxford]], is named after her, reflecting the virtues of liberalism and academic success that the college wished to embody.{{sfn |Batson |2008 |p=23}} She is featured on the front of the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] polymer [[Banknotes of Scotland|£10 note]] launched in 2017 along with a quotation from ''On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotbanks.org.uk/polymer-banknotes/royal-bank-of-scotland-10-polymer.html|title=Royal Bank of Scotland – £10 Polymer|website=www.scotbanks.org.uk|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418231518/https://www.scotbanks.org.uk/polymer-banknotes/royal-bank-of-scotland-10-polymer.html|archive-date=18 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
[[File:Vice-Admiral Sir William Fairfax, (1739-1813), by William Grimaldi (1751-1830).jpg|thumb|right|150px|Vice-Admiral William Fairfax; Mary's father, painted in 1798]]
Somerville, the daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir [[William George Fairfax]],<ref name="bruck201">{{cite journal |title=Mary Somerville, mathematician and astronomer of underused talents |url=http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1996JBAA..106..201B |author=Mary T Brück |journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association |year = 1996|volume=206 |issue=4 |page=201|bibcode = 1996JBAA..106..201B}}</ref> was related to several prominent Scottish houses through her mother,<ref name="DSB521">{{cite book |title=Somerville, Mary Fairfax Greig |year=1981 |series=Dictionary of Scientific Biography |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |location=New York |volume=11 & 12 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofscie11gill/page/521 521]–522 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofscie11gill|url-access=registration }}</ref> Margaret Charters.<ref name="Burntisland"/> She was born on 26 December 1780 at the [[manse]] of [[Jedburgh]], the home of her maternal aunt and the Rev. Dr. [[Thomas Somerville (minister)|Thomas Somerville]] (1741–1830) (author of ''My Own Life and Times'').<ref name="DSB521"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2024 |title=Mary Somerville &#124; Biography, Writings, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Somerville |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Her childhood home was at [[Burntisland]], Fife, where her mother was from.<ref name="bruck201"/>

Somerville was the second of four surviving children (three of her siblings had died in infancy). She was particularly close to her oldest brother Sam. The family lived in genteel poverty as her father's naval pay remained meagre, despite his rise through the ranks. Her mother supplemented the household's income by growing vegetables, maintaining an orchard and keeping cows for milk. Her mother taught her to read the Bible and [[Calvinist]] catechisms.  When her household chores were done Mary was free to roam among the birds and flowers in the garden.{{sfnp|Arianrhod|2012|p=163}}

In her autobiography, Somerville recollects that on her father's return from sea he said to his wife, "This kind of life will never do, Mary must at least know how to write and keep accounts".{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|p=[https://archive.org/details/b21960239/page/21 21]}} Ten-year-old Mary was then sent to an expensive boarding school in [[Musselburgh]],<ref name="DSB521"/> where she learned the first principles of writing, rudimentary French and English grammar.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=22}} Upon returning home, she:

{{blockquote|...was no longer amused in the gardens, but wandered about the country. When the tide was out I spent hours on the sands, looking at the star-fish and sea-urchins, or watching the children digging for sand-eels, cockles, and the spouting razor-fish. I made collections of shells, such as were cast ashore, some so small that they appeared like white specks in patches of black sand. There was a small pier on the sands for shipping limestone brought from the coal mines inland. I was astonished to see the surface of these blocks of stone covered with beautiful impressions of what seemed to be leaves; how they got there I could not imagine, but I picked up the broken bits, and even large pieces, and brought them to my repository.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=25}}}}

During bad weather, Somerville occupied herself with reading the books in her father's library, including [[Shakespeare]], as well as with "domestic duties." Such duties "occupied a great part of my time; besides, I had to shew my sampler, working the alphabet from A to Z, as well as the ten numbers, on canvas".{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=27}} Her aunt Janet came to live with the family and reportedly said to her mother "I wonder you let Mary waste her time in reading, she never shews [sews] more than if she were a man." Somerville was then sent to the village school to learn plain [[needlework]], where she found herself annoyed that her "turn for reading was so much disapproved of, and thought it unjust that women should have been given a desire for knowledge if it were wrong to acquire it." The village school master came several time each week to teach Mary at home. In her ''Personal Recollections'', Somerville notes that the boys learned Latin at the village school, while "it was thought sufficient for the girls to be able to read the Bible; very few even learnt writing."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=28}}

[[File:Alexander Nasmyth - View of the City of Edinburgh - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|''View of the City of Edinburgh'' by [[Alexander Nasmyth]]. Mary spent the winters in Edinburgh and attended Nasmyth's academy.]] 
When she 13, her mother sent her to writing school in Edinburgh, where she improved her writing skills and studied arithmetic.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=35}} Back in Burntisland she taught herself sufficient Latin to read the books in the home library.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=36}} While visiting her aunt in Jedburgh, she met her uncle, Dr. Thomas Somerville. She gathered her courage to tell him that she had been learning Latin. Dr. Somerville assured her that in earlier times many women had become elegant scholars. He then proceeded to enable her to improve her Latin by reading [[Virgil]] with her.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=37}}<ref name="bruck201"/> While staying with another uncle, William Charters, in Edinburgh, Somerville was sent to a dancing school, where she learned [[Etiquette|manners]] and how to [[curtsey]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=41}} She also accompanied her uncle and aunt on their visits to the Lyell family in Kinnordy; [[Charles Lyell]] later became a celebrated geologist and Somerville's friend.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|pages=43–44}}

Somerville's father was a [[Tory]], but she was a Liberal, made so by the "unjust and exaggerated abuse of the [[Whigs (British political party)|Liberal party]]. From my earliest years my mind revolved against oppression and tyranny, and I resented the injustice of the world in denying all those privileges of education to my sex which were so lavishly bestowed on men."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|pages=44–46}} At the time, slaves still worked to harvest sugar in the West Indies and in protest Somerville and her oldest brother Sam would refuse to take sugar in their tea.{{sfnp|Arianrhod|2012|page=165}}{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|pages=44–46}}

[[File:MarySomerville.JPG|thumb|Commemorative medal of Mary Somerville]]
At Burntisland, where she stayed the summer with her uncle and aunt, Somerville had access to elementary books on [[algebra]] and geometry. She spent the summer learning to play the piano. In addition to the piano, she learned Greek so she could read [[Xenophon]] and [[Herodotus]] in their original versions.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|pages=47–48}} On her return to Edinburgh she was allowed to attend the academy of painter [[Alexander Nasmyth]], which had opened for ladies. When Nasmyth advised another student to study [[Euclid's Elements]] to gain a foundation in perspective, astronomy and mechanical science, Somerville spotted an opportunity. She thought the book would help her understand ''Navigations'' by [[John Robertson (mathematician)|John Robertson]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=49}}<ref name="bruck201" />

She continued in the traditional role of a daughter in a well-connected family, attending social events and maintaining a sweet and polite manner, which led to her nickname as "the Rose of Jedburgh" among Edinburgh socialites.<ref name="DSB522">{{cite book |title=Somerville, Mary Fairfax Greig |series=Dictionary of Scientific Biography |year=2014 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |volume=11 & 12 |page=522|bibcode=2014bea..book.2030M }}</ref> Meanwhile, a young tutor came to stay with the family in Burntisland to educate her younger brother Henry. The tutor, Mr. Craw, was a Greek and Latin scholar, and Somerville asked him to purchase elementary books on algebra and geometry for her. He presented Somerville with Euclid's ''Elements'' and ''Algebra'' by [[John Bonnycastle]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=53}} Somerville would rise early to play the piano, painted during the day, and stayed up late to study Euclid and algebra.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=45}} When [[Lord Balmuto]], a family friend, invited her to visit his family, Somerville saw her first [[laboratory]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=55}} She also spent some time with the [[James Townsend Oswald|Oswalds family]] in Dunnikeir, whose daughter, a bold horsewoman who impressed Somerville, became a Greek and Latin scholar and married [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=56}}

Winters were usually spent in Edinburgh. In the winter of 1796, Somerville made her first appearance at a ball under the care of Lady Burchan. Her first dancing partner was the [[Earl of Minto]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=62}}

In the autumn of 1797, her father was caught up in a mutiny while serving as flag-captain under [[Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan|Admiral Duncan]] on {{HMS|Venerable|1784|6}}. Despite the mutiny, the [[Battle of Camperdown]] was won by the British.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=68}} Her father was knighted and made Colonel of Marines.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=69}} Her eldest brother died at the age of 21 in Calcutta while serving in the [[East India Company]]'s military service. The family had hoped he would make a sufficient fortune in a few years to enable him to return home.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=70}}

==Marriage and studies==
In 1804, Somerville met her first husband, Lieutenant Samuel Greig. Her distant cousin, a son of Admiral [[Samuel Greig]],<ref name="Burntisland"/> he was commissioner of the Russian navy and Russian consul for Britain.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=74}} They married and had two children, one of whom, Woronzow Greig, would become a [[barrister]] and scientist.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Appleby|first1=J.H|title=Woronzow Greig (1805–1865), F.R.S., and his scientific interests|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society|date=22 January 1999|volume=53|issue=1|pages=95–106|doi=10.1098/rsnr.1999.0065|s2cid=146173965|access-date=19 August 2007|url=http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/d62hwdv3gc2d7ah9/fulltext.pdf}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They lived in London, but it was not a happy time for Somerville. Her husband did not think much of women's intellectual capacity. Indeed, Greig "possessed in full the prejudice against learned women which was common at that time."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=3}} Instead, Somerville took lessons in French, which was considered more appropriate.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=75}} When her husband died in 1807 she was still nursing their youngest child{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=77}} and she returned to Scotland.<ref name="DSB522"/>

Her inheritance from Greig gave her the freedom to pursue intellectual interests. By that time, she had studied plane and spherical [[trigonometry]], [[conic sections]] and [[James Ferguson (Scottish astronomer)|James Ferguson]]'s ''Astronomy''. Somerville also read [[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]''.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=78}} [[John Playfair]], professor of natural philosophy at [[University of Edinburgh]], encouraged her studies and through him she began a correspondence with [[William Wallace (mathematician)|William Wallace]], with whom she discussed mathematical problems.<ref name=mactutor/>

Somerville began solving mathematical problems posed in the mathematical journal of the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Military College at Marlow]] and eventually made a name for herself after solving a [[Diophantine equation|diophantine]] problem, for which she was awarded a silver medal in 1811.<ref name="Routledge">{{Cite book|title=The Routledge Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century British Literature and Science|author1=John Holmes |author2=Sharon Ruston|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=9781317042334|pages=59}}</ref>{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=79}} Somerville published five solutions in Volumes 3 and 4 of the ''Mathematical Repository'' under the pseudonym 'A Lady'. Two of her solutions demonstrated her early adoption of differential calculus—her contribution to the circulation and visibility of calculus in early 19th-century Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stenhouse|first=Brigitte|date=December 2019|title=Mary Somerville's early contributions to the circulation of differential calculus|journal=Historia Mathematica|volume=51|language=en|pages=S0315086019300771|doi=10.1016/j.hm.2019.12.001|s2cid=214472568|url=http://oro.open.ac.uk/68466/1/accepted_manuscript.pdf}}</ref>

Wallace suggested that she study the writings of French mathematician [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]], which summarised the theory of gravity and collected the mathematical results established in the 50 years since ''Principia'' had been published. Somerville said that studying Laplace's work gave her the confidence to persevere in her mathematical studies.{{sfnp|Arianrhod|2012|page=173}} She extended her studies to [[astronomy]], [[chemistry]], [[geography]], [[microscopy]], [[electricity]] and [[magnetism]].<ref name="Routledge"/> At the age of 33 she bought herself a library of scientific books. These included [[Louis-Benjamin Francœur]]'s ''Elements of Mechanics'', [[Sylvestre François Lacroix]]' ''Algebra'' and ''Calculus Treatise'', [[Jean-Baptiste Biot]]'s ''Analytical Geometry and Astronomy'', [[Siméon Denis Poisson]]'s ''Treatise on Mechanics'', [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]]'s ''Theory of Analytical Functions'', [[Leonhard Euler]]'s ''[[Elements of Algebra]]'' and ''Isoperimetrical Problems'', [[Alexis Clairaut]]'s ''Figure of the Earth'', [[Gaspard Monge]]'s ''Application of Analysis to Geometry'', and [[François Callet]]'s ''Logarithmus''.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=79}}

In her ''Personal Recollections'', Somerville expressed the opinion that mathematical science was at a low ebb in Britain, due to a reverence for Newton that prevented scientists from adopting [[calculus]]. On the Continent astronomical and mechanical science had reached a high degree of perfection. In her opinion this deadlock was not broken until 1816, when [[Charles Babbage]], [[John Herschel]] and [[George Peacock (mathematician)|George Peacock]] published a translation of the lectures of Sylvestre Lacroix, then a state-of-the-art calculus textbook.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=78}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Constructing a Bridge: An Exploration of Engineering Culture, Design, and Research in Nineteenth-century France and America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6P66Ofj6DiYC&pg=PA110|access-date=26 April 2013|year=1997|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-11217-8|page=110}}</ref>

While staying with her family in Scotland, Somerville became acquainted with several leading intellectual lights, such as [[Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Henry Brougham]].{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=81}} In 1812 she married another cousin, Dr [[William Somerville (physician)|William Somerville]] (1771–1860), inspector of the Army Medical Board, with whom she had four children. He encouraged and aided her in the study of the physical sciences.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874}} In 1817, her husband was elected to [[Royal Society|the Royal Society]] and together they moved in the leading social circles of the day. Somerville was well known to scientists, as well as to leading writers and artists. Painter [[J. M. W. Turner]]<ref name="NewSci2017">{{cite journal|last1=Baraniuk|first1=Chris|title=The queen of science|journal=New Scientist|date=1 July 2017|volume=235 |issue=3132|pages=40–41|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(17)31271-X |bibcode=2017NewSc.235Q..40B }}</ref> knew that Somerville and her husband's family were neighbors of the writer [[Walter Scott]]. She wrote, "I shall never forget the charm of this little society, especially the supper-parties at Abbotsford, when Scott was in the highest glee, telling amusing tales, ancient legends, ghost and witch stories."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=96}}

In 1819, Somerville's husband was appointed physician to [[Chelsea Hospital]] and the family moved into a government house at [[Hanover Square, Westminster|Hanover Square]].<ref name="Elisabetta Strickland 2016 16">{{Cite book|title=The Ascent of Mary Somerville in 19th Century Society|author=Elisabetta Strickland|publisher=Springer|year=2016|isbn=9783319491936|pages=16}}</ref> Somerville was a friend of [[Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron|Anne Isabella Milbanke]], Baroness Wentworth, and was mathematics tutor to her daughter, [[Ada Lovelace]]. With Somerville, Lovelace attended scientific gatherings where she met [[Charles Babbage]]. [[Somerville College, Oxford|Somerville College]] owns a letter from Babbage to Somerville inviting her to view his 'Calculating Engine'.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Lovelace.pdf|title = Somerville and Mathematics|access-date = 17 February 2016|publisher = Mathematics Institute, University of Oxford}}</ref> Somerville frequently visited Babbage while he was "making his Calculating-machines".{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=141}} Somerville and Lovelace maintained a close friendship and when Lovelace encountered difficulties with a mathematical calculation, she would walk to Somerville's house and discuss the matter over a cup of tea.<ref name="Elisabetta Strickland 2016 16"/>

In 1823, the Somervilles' youngest daughter died after an illness.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=153}}

While living in London the Somervilles travelled through Europe on a number of occasions, leaving their children with their German governess. Among their travel companions was the jurist and politician [[Sir James Mackintosh]]. Before leaving London the Somervilles contacted the people they wanted to meet, which included numerous celebrated intellectuals.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ascent of Mary Somerville in 19th Century Society|author=Elisabetta Strickland|publisher=Springer|year=2016|isbn=9783319491936|pages=16–17}}</ref> The Somervilles also received frequent visitors; writer [[Maria Edgeworth]] would visit them when in England.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=65}}

== Science practice and writing ==
[[File:Somerville-2.jpg|alt=Title page to Mechanism of the Heavens (1831)|thumb|253x253px|Title page to ''Mechanism of the Heavens'' (1831)]]
[[File:Page_157_from_Mechanism_of_the_Heaven,_Mary_Somerville_1831.png|thumb|Page 157 from ''Mechanism of the Heavens'', Somerville discusses the law of [[universal gravity]] and [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion]].|233x233px]]
Somerville conducted experiments to explore the relationship between light and magnetism. Her first paper, "The magnetic properties of the violet rays of the solar spectrum", was published in the ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' in 1826. Although her conclusions were faulty,<ref name=LT>{{cite news |last1=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Mrs. Somerville |work=[[The Times]] |date=2 December 1872 |location=London |page=8}}</ref> the topic was of popular interest at the time and the paper brought her to notice in scientific circles.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/26024|title=Somerville [née Fairfax; other married name Greig], Mary}}</ref><ref name="Routledge"/> Using a sample of [[silver nitrate]] supplied by  [[Michael Faraday]], Somerville conducted experiments on the blackening effect of sunlight, the reaction used in early experiments in photography. She later developed her technique by using an [[Prism (optics)|optical prism]] and vegetable dyes, producing an early version of the [[optical spectrometer]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brück |first1=Mary |author1-link=Mary Brück |title=Women in early British and Irish astronomy : stars and satellites |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrecht |isbn=978-90-481-2473-2 |pages=81, 83}}</ref> Sir [[David Brewster]], inventor of the [[kaleidoscope]], wrote in 1829 that Mary Somerville was "certainly the most extraordinary woman in Europe – a mathematician of the very first rank with all the gentleness of a woman".<ref name=mactutor>{{mactutor|title=Mary Fairfax Greig Somerville|id=Somerville.html}}</ref>

[[Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux|Lord Brougham]] asked Somerville to translate the ''[[Traité de mécanique céleste|Mécanique Céleste]]'' of [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] for the [[Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge]]. Laplace had, in five exhaustive volumes, summed up the current state of gravitational mathematics. ''Mécanique Céleste'' was acclaimed as the greatest intellectual achievement since the ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]''. Somerville produced not just a translation, but also an expanded version of the first two volumes. She wrote a standalone exposition of the mathematics behind the workings of the [[Solar System]],{{sfnp|Arianrhod|2012|page=3}} of which she said "I translated Laplace's work from algebra into common language". It was published in 1831, under the title of ''The Mechanism of the Heavens,'' and it immediately made her famous. Until the 1880s ''Mechanism'' was set as a textbook for undergraduates at the University of Cambridge.<ref name="NewSci2017" />

After receiving a copy of ''Mechanism'', [[Joanna Baillie]] wrote to Somerville, "I feel myself greatly honoured by receiving such a mark of regard from one who has done more to remove the light estimation in which the capacity of women is too often held than all that has been accomplished by the whole Sisterhood of Poetical Damsels & novel-writing Authors."<ref name="Baillie2010">{{cite book|last=Baillie|first=Joanna|editor-first=Thomas|editor-last=McLean|title=Further Letters of Joanna Baillie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17xLwZQppO4C&pg=PA144|date=2010|publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press]]|location=Madison, NJ|isbn=978-0-8386-4149-1|page=144}}</ref> The book was praised by [[George Peacock (mathematician)|George Peacock]], Professor of the [[University of Cambridge]], thus many of the 750 copies printed were bought in Cambridge. Reviews were favourable and Somerville received letters of congratulation from "many men of science".{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=173}} She was elected honorary member of the [[Royal Irish Academy]], the [[Bristol Philosophical Institution]], and the [[Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève]] in 1834.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=176}} The British Crown granted her a civil pension of £200 a year in recognition of her eminence in science and literature.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=177}}

Somerville was passionate about astronomy and believed it to be the most extensive example of the connection of the physical sciences in that it combined the sciences of number and quantity, of rest and motion.

{{blockquote|In [astronomy] we perceive the operation of a force which is mixed up with everything that exists in the heavens or on earth; which pervades every atom, rules the motions of animate and inanimate beings, and is as sensible in the descent of a rain-drop as in the falls of Niagara; in the weight of the air, as in the periods of the moon.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Full text of "On the connection of the physical sciences"|url = https://archive.org/stream/onconnectionofph00somerich/onconnectionofph00somerich_djvu.txt|website = archive.org|access-date = 2016-02-17}}</ref>}}

In Somerville's time, the value of scientific publications depended on the currency of the information, therefore frequent editions had to be produced. Her subsequent books reflect the time that she could be free in her domestic life as her children became more independent. They also reflect the need to earn money, as the Somervilles suffered through a number of financial crises that peaked in 1835. She publicly and plausibly maintained that she wrote only for pleasure. Privately, she paid considerable attention to the profitability of her books.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mary Somerville: Science, Illumination, and the Female Mind|url=https://archive.org/details/marysomervillesc00neel_955|url-access=limited|first1=Kathryn A.|last1=Neeley|first2=Mary|last2=Somerville|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780521626729|pages=[https://archive.org/details/marysomervillesc00neel_955/page/n140 124]}}</ref> Through personal connections she could secure [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] as the publisher of her first book, ''Mechanism'', and he remained her publisher throughout her long career.{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=78}} Murray later commented that despite having made little profit he was very pleased to have had the honour of publishing the works of such an extraordinary person.{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=80}} Her second book, ''[[On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences]],'' sold 15,000 copies and established her reputation in elite science.{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=87}}[[File:Mary Somerville On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences.jpg|thumb|246x246px|Cover page of ''On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences'']]She was among those who discussed a hypothetical planet perturbing [[Uranus]]. In the 6th edition of ''Connexion'' (1842), she wrote, "If after the lapse of years the tables formed from a combination of numerous observations should be still inadequate to represent the motions of Uranus, the discrepancies may reveal the existence, nay, even the mass and orbit of a body placed for ever beyond the sphere of vision".{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=290}} Predictions were fulfilled in 1846 with the discovery of [[Neptune]] revolving at a distance of 3,000,000,000 miles from the Sun. "The mass of Neptune, the size and position of his orbit in space, and his periodic time, were determined from his disturbing action on Uranus before the planet itself had been seen."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=290}} ''Connexion'' ran to 10 editions, more than 9,000 copies and was its publisher's most successful science book until ''The Origin of Species'' by [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name="NewSci2017" /> It was translated into German and Italian and went through various editions in the United States.{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=203}}

[[File:Geographical_Distribution_of_Plants_1850_Alexander_Keith_Johnston.png|thumb| In the revised third edition of ''Physical Geography'', published in 1851, Somerville noted that her publisher had intended to include illustrations, but that this plan was abandoned since the ''Physical Atlas'' provided maps illustrating the "most important questions" of physical geography.<ref>{{Cite book|title= Physical Geography |author=Martha Somerville |publisher=J. Murray, digitised 2006, original held by University of Michigan |year=1851 |pages=vi}}</ref> ''Geographical Distribution of Plants'' from [[Alexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871)|Alexander Keith Johnston]]'s 1848 ''The Physical Atlas''.]]
Her book ''Physical Geography'' was published in 1848 and was the first English textbook on the subject. It remained in use until the early 20th century.<ref name=mactutor/> ''Physical Geography'' was financially successful and brought her the Victoria Gold Medal of the [[Royal Geographical Society]].<ref name="bio dict 293">{{Cite book|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|author=Catharine M. C. Haines|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2001|isbn=9781576070901|pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationalwom00hain/page/293 293]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwom00hain}}</ref> Somerville followed, as she said, "the noble example of [[Alexander von Humboldt|Baron Humboldt]], the patriarch of physical geography", and she took an extended view of geography that included the Earth, its animal, "vegetable inhabitants", as well as "the past and present condition of man, the origin, manners, and languages of existing nations, and the monuments of those that have been".{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=133}}
[[File:Haliomma_Echinaster_in_Molecular_and_Microscopic_Science,_Mary_Somerville.png|thumb|right|One of the 180 illustrations in the book ''Molecular and Microscopic Science'', published 1869. This is an illustration of a ''Haliomma echinaster'', a [[Bioluminescence|bioluminiescent]] [[radiolaria]]n.]]

''Physical Geography'' starts with describing the overall structure of planet Earth, along with a brief allusion to the location of the Earth within the [[Solar System]]. Subsequently, the book focuses on terrestrial topics, such as the most basic features of land and water, and formations such as mountains, volcanoes, oceans, rivers and lakes. Somerville goes on to discuss the elements that govern temperature, such as light, electricity, storms, the aurora and magnetism. Eventually the book turns to vegetation, birds and mammals, and their geographical distribution in the Arctic, Europe, Asia, Africa, America and the Antarctic. Somerville ends the book with a discussion of "the distribution, condition, and future prospects of the human race".{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=134}} She emphasises the reciprocal dependencies in physical geography and the relationship between human beings and nature. In line with [[Victorian era|Victorian]] thinking, Somerville asserts the superiority of human beings, but maintains the interdependencies and interconnectedness of creation.{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|page=137}} ''Physical Geography'' sold more copies than any of her other books and earned Humboldt's admiration. After receiving a copy of the book he wrote to her: "You alone could provide your literature with an original cosmological work".{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|pages=132 & 230}}

Her fourth book, ''Molecular and Microscopic Science'', took 10 years to write, finally published in 1869. She soon had doubts about devoting herself to popularising science, instead of concentrating on mathematics alone.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ascent of Mary Somerville in 19th Century Society|author=Elisabetta Strickland | publisher=Springer |year=2016| isbn=9783319491936|pages=65}}</ref> Of the book she said: "In writing this book I made a great mistake, and repent it - Mathematics are the natural bent of my mind. If I had devoted myself exclusively to that study, I might probably have written something useful, as a new era had begun in that science."{{sfnp|Somerville|1874|page=338}} Regardless, the book was another success. It gave an up-to-date description of the latest discoveries revealed through the [[microscope]] and was published in two volumes and three parts. In the first part Somerville explained the latest thinking on [[atoms]] and [[molecules]], the second covered plant life, while the third explored animal life. The book included 180 illustrations, which caused her publisher great expense.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ascent of Mary Somerville in 19th Century Society|author=Elisabetta Strickland | publisher=Springer |year=2016| isbn=9783319491936|pages=65–66}}</ref>

She was elected to the American Geographical and Statistical Society in 1857 and the Italian Geographical Society in 1870, and was made a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{citation |last=Oughton|first=M.|title=Mary Somerville, 1780–1872|editor-last=Freeman|editor-first=T. W|editor2-last=Oughton|editor2-first=M.|editor3-last=Pinchemel|editor3-first=P.|editor3-link=Philippe Pinchemel|work=Geographers: biobibliographical studies |volume=2 |pages=109–11|date=1978|publisher=Mansell|place=London and New York}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Somerville College, Oxford - Library1.JPG|thumb|[[Somerville College Library]], Oxford]]
From 1833 onwards, Somerville and her husband spent most of their time in Italy. Somerville maintained correspondence with a large number of leading scientists and remained engaged in current debates on facts and theories.<ref name="bio dict 293"/>

In 1868, four years before her death at 91, she was the first person to sign [[John Stuart Mill]]'s unsuccessful petition for [[female suffrage]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Arianrhod|first=Robyn|title=What sort of science do we want?|url=http://blog.oup.com/2012/11/mary-somerville-sexism-in-science/|work=OUPblog|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=29 November 2012|date=29 November 2012 |ref=none}}</ref> In her autobiography, Somerville wrote that "British laws are adverse to women". She detailed the obstacles she had faced in obtaining an education as a young girl, though she did not speculate on the nature of the problem. During her lifetime, agitation had grown for women's access to higher education. In 1875,  astronomer [[Maria Mitchell]] was told by a college president that he "would hire a woman scientist if she was as good as Mary Somerville".{{sfnp|Neeley|Somerville|2001|pages=118 & 215}}

[[File:Vonwiller-family.jpg|thumb|The English Cemetery, Naples. Statue of Mary Somerville is in the background.]] 
Somerville died at [[Naples]] on 29 November 1872,<ref name=LT/> and was buried there in the [[English Cemetery, Naples|English Cemetery]].<ref>Giancarlo Alisio, Il Cimitero degli Inglesi, Naples, 1993, {{ISBN|88-435-4520-5}}</ref>

==Legacy==
In the year following Somerville's death, her autobiographical ''Personal Recollections'' was published, consisting of reminiscences written during her old age. Over 10,000 pages are in the Somerville Collection of the [[Bodleian Library]] and [[Somerville College]], Oxford.<ref name="bio dict 293"/><ref>{{Cite web|title = Mary Somerville Papers|url = http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/1500-1900/somerville/somerville.html|website = www.bodley.ox.ac.uk|access-date = 17 February 2016}}</ref> The collection includes papers relating to her writing and published work, and correspondence with family members, scientists and writers, as well as other figures in public life. Also included is substantial correspondence with the [[Lord Byron|Byron]] and [[Ada Lovelace|Lovelace]] families.

Her shell collection was given to [[Somerville College, Oxford]] by her descendants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Emerson |first1=L. |title=Somerville 140, 1879–2019, A Celebration of Somerville College, Oxford, in 140 Objects |publisher=Scala |page=26}}</ref>

Somerville Square in Burntisland is named after her family and marks the site of their home.<ref name="Burntisland">{{cite web |url=https://www.burntisland.net/somerville-family-history.htm |title=Mary Somerville's Family |publisher=Burntisland Heritage Trust |access-date=26 November 2018 }}</ref>

[[Somerville College, Oxford]], was named after Somerville, as are Somerville House, [[Burntisland]], where she lived for a time,<ref name=mactutor/> and [[Somerville House]], a high school for girls in [[Brisbane]], Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pmsa-schools.edu.au/content/standard.asp?name=Somerville_House |title=Somerville House |access-date=16 March 2008 |work=Schools |publisher=Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216002140/http://www.pmsa-schools.edu.au/content/standard.asp?name=Somerville_House |archive-date=16 February 2008 }}</ref> One of the Committee Rooms of the [[Scottish Parliament]] in Edinburgh has been named after her.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.scot/Eventsandexhibitions/Committee_Rooms.pdf |title=Committee Rooms |publisher=Scottish Parliament |access-date=26 November 2018 }}</ref>

Somerville Island ({{coord|74|44|N|96|10|W}}), a small island in [[Barrow Strait]], [[Nunavut]], was named after her by Sir [[William Edward Parry]] in 1819.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mary Somerville and the Cultivation of Science, 1815–1840 |first=Elizabeth Chambers |last=Patterson |year=1983 |publisher=Springer |pages=57–58|doi=10.1007/978-94-009-6839-4 |isbn=978-94-009-6841-7 }}{{subscription required}}</ref>

The Somerville Club was founded in 1878 in London, by 1887 it was re-established as the New Somerville Club, and it disappeared by 1908.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crawford |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Crawford (historian) |title=The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-135-43402-1 |page=128}}</ref>

The vessel {{ship||Mary Somerville|1835 ship|2}} was launched in 1835 at Liverpool. She traded with India for Taylor, Potter & Co., of Liverpool, and disappeared with the loss of all aboard in late 1852 or early 1853.
[[File:Somerville crater AS15-M-2250.jpg|thumb|Somerville Crater]]

Mary Somerville is featured in miniature in The English Bijou Almanack, 1837, with poetry by [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]].

[[5771 Somerville]] (1987 ST1) is a [[Asteroid belt|main-belt]] [[asteroid]] discovered on 21 September 1987 by E. Bowell at [[Lowell Observatory]] in Flagstaff, Arizona, and named after her.<ref>{{cite book |title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (5771) Somerville |last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. |publisher = [[Springer Berlin Heidelberg]] |page = 488 |year = 2007 |doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5435 |isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3}}</ref> [[Somerville (crater)|Somerville crater]] is a small lunar crater in the eastern part of the Moon. It lies to the east of the prominent crater [[Langrenus (crater)|Langrenus]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5644?__fsk=887511421 |title=Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Somerville on Moon |website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |publisher=International Astronomical Union |language=en |access-date=26 November 2018 }}</ref> It is one of a handful of lunar craters named after women.

In February 2016 Somerville was shortlisted, along with Scottish physicist [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and civil engineer [[Thomas Telford]], in a public competition run by the Royal Bank of Scotland to decide whose face should appear on the bank's new £10 notes, to be issued in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbs.com/news/2016/february/royal-bank-of-scotland-announces-shortlist-to-appear-on-new-p10-.html|title=Royal Bank of Scotland announces shortlist to appear on new £10 note|date=1 February 2016|publisher=Royal Bank of Scotland|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35449943|title=Historical figures shortlisted for new RBS £10 note|website=BBC News|date=31 January 2016|access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> Later that month RBS announced that she had won the public vote, held on [[Facebook]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/10/scientist-mary-somerville-scottish-10-note-royal-bank-scotland#:~:text=The%20scientist%20Mary%20Somerville%20will,attempt%20to%20rig%20the%20vote.|title=Scientist Mary Somerville to appear on Scottish £10 note|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Rob|last=Davies|date=10 February 2016}}</ref> The banknotes, bearing her image, were issued in the second half of 2017.<ref>[http://www.scotsman.com/business/companies/financial/astronomer-mary-somerville-features-on-new-rbs-10-note-1-4528729 "Astronomer Mary Somerville features on new RBS Â£10 note"], ''[[The Scotsman]]'', 11 August 2017.</ref>

On 2 February 2020, [[Google]] celebrated her with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/celebrating-mary-somerville/|title=Celebrating Mary Somerville|website=Google|date=2 February 2020}}</ref>

On 1 April 2022, a satellite named after Somerville ([[ÑuSat|ÑuSat 26]], COSPAR 2022–033) was launched into space as part of the [[Satellogic]] Aleph-1 [[satellite constellation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Aleph-1 Constellation |url=https://satellogic.com/technology/constellation/ |publisher=[[Satellogic]] |access-date=16 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==Children==
From her first marriage she had a son, Woronzow Greig (1805–1865), named after Count [[Semyon Vorontsov]], the Russian ambassador in London who had appointed Samuel Greig as his Consul General. Woronzow married Agnes Graham but all their children died at birth or in infancy.<ref name="Burntisland" />

From her second marriage she had three daughters and one son: Margaret Farquhar Somerville (1813–1823; died in childhood), Thomas Somerville (1814–1815; died in infancy), Martha Charters Somerville (1815–1879) and Mary Charlotte Somerville (1817–1875). Her two surviving daughters spent most of their lives caring for Mary.<ref name="Burntisland" />

==Bibliography==
* 1826 [https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstl.1826.0014 "On the magnetizing power of the more refrangible solar rays"]
* 1831 [[iarchive:mechanismheaven01somegoog|''Mechanism of the Heavens'']]
* 1832 [https://books.google.com/books/about/A_preliminary_dissertation_on_the_mechan.html?id=STJYAAAAYAAJ "A Preliminary Dissertation on the Mechanisms of the Heavens"]
* 1834 ''[[On the Connection of the Physical Sciences]]''
* 1848 ''[[iarchive:physicalgeograp00somegoog|Physical Geography]]''
* 1869 ''[[iarchive:b21496766 0001|Molecular and Microscopic Science]]''
* 1874  ''[[iarchive:personalrecolle00somegoog|Personal recollections, from early life to old age, of Mary Somerville]]''

==See also==
* [[List of people on banknotes#Scotland|People on Scottish banknotes]]
* [[Timeline of women in science]]
* {{ship ||Mary Somerville |1834 ship}} – ship launched at Liverpool in 1835 and named for Mary Somerville{{sfnp|Fara|2008|pp=83–85}}
* [[Institute_of_Physics_Awards#Outreach_awards]] The Mary Somerville Medal and Prize

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{Cite book|title=Seduced by Logic: Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution|first=Robyn|last=Arianrhod|author-link= Robyn Arianrhod |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780199931613}}
* {{Cite book|title= Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville: With Selections from Her Correspondence |first=Martha|last=Somerville |publisher= Roberts Brothers|url=https://archive.org/details/b21960239 |year=1874 }}.  Digitised 2007, original in Harvard University. Reprinted by AMS Press (January 1996), {{ISBN|0-404-56837-8}}. Written by her daughter.
* Neeley, Kathryn A. ''Mary Somerville: Science, Illumination, and the Female Mind'', Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
* {{cite journal |last=Fara |first=Patricia |date=September 2008 |title=Mary Somerville: a scientist and her ship
|journal=Endeavour |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=83–5 |location = England| pmid = 18597849 |doi = 10.1016/j.endeavour.2008.05.003 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Batson |first1=Judy G. |title=Her Oxford |date=2008 |publisher=[[Vanderbilt University Press]] |location=Nashville |isbn=978-0-8265-1610-7 }}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* [http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/somer.htm "Mary Fairfax Somerville", Biographies of Women Mathematicians], [[Agnes Scott College]]
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=AnoMary.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 ''Mary Somerville''], an article by [[Maria Mitchell]], ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' 5 (May 1860), 568–571.
* [http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astronomy-resource-guides/women-in-astronomy-an-introductory-resource-guide/ Bibliography] from the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]]
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/1500-1900/somerville/somerville.html Catalogue of correspondence and papers of Mary Somerville and of the Somerville and related families, c.1700–1972], held at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
* {{Gutenberg author | id=32884 | name=Mary Somerville}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Mary Fairfax Somerville}}

{{Women's suffrage in Scotland}}
{{Somerville College, Oxford|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Mary}}
[[Category:Scottish astronomers]]
[[Category:Scottish science writers]]
[[Category:1780 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish suffragists]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish translators]]
[[Category:Fairfax family]]
[[Category:Women astronomers]]
[[Category:Royal Astronomical Society]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:People from Burntisland]]
[[Category:People from Jedburgh]]
[[Category:Scottish expatriates in Italy]]
[[Category:19th-century British astronomers]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish mathematicians]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish women scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish women writers]]
[[Category:19th-century British women mathematicians]]