She published the first, The Mechanism of the Heavens, when she was 51. Mary Somerville was the author of five books. Somerville College owns a letter from Babbage to Somerville inviting her to view his ‘Calculating Engine’, an offer which Somerville frequently took him up on. A move to London in 1819 led to a role as private tutor to Ada Lovelace and the two women attended the scientific gatherings where they met Charles Babbage. In 1812, she married Dr William Somerville, who supported and greatly aided her studies. With the encouragement of John Playfair, professor of natural philosophy at University of Edinburgh, she started to solve mathematical problems posed in the mathematical journal of the Military College at Marlow, leading to her first public recognition after her solution to a diophantine problem was awarded a silver medal in 1811. It was at this time that she first read Isaac Newton’s Principia, which influenced her profoundly. When he died in 1807, she returned home to Scotland, where she promptly resumed her studies. Somerville’s first marriage was not a happy one, primarily because her husband did not support her academic interests. As a young woman, Somerville would rise early to play the piano, paint during the day then stay up late to study Euclid and algebra. During her adolescence, Somerville became an omnivorous autodidact, teaching herself Latin and Greek and seizing on chance encounters with family members and friends to acquire new books (including Euclid’s Elements). The Scottish astronomer, mathematician and geographer Mary Somerville’s interest in science was first kindled as a child by the natural world.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |