Mary Somerville

A Trailblazer Who Changed the World

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Mary Somerville

At a time when women had little to do with the study of science or mathematics, Mary Somerville took to both and did her best to teach others as well. She was the first female honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society (along with Caroline Herschel), and in 1834 she became the first person in the world to be described in print as a ‘scientist’. Mary had to fight hard to persist in her chosen career – her first husband thought such topics unsuited to women. Fortunately, her second husband was more enlightened and encouraged her to conduct experiments, write and publish textbooks which explained science, in meaningful terms, to the general public.

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“The life of a woman entirely devoted to her family duties and to scientific pursuits affords little scope for a biography. There are in it neither stirring events nor brilliant deeds to record…”
― Martha Somerville, Personal recollections, from early life to old age of Mary Somerville Chapter 1

Mary Somerville was barred by statue from being made a Fellow of the Royal Society, but a bust of her was placed in the entrance hall. A ship was named for her, a college at the University of Oxford, poems were dedicated to her, and today her face is on a Scottish banknote. Discover more about this determined and courageous woman, who entered a sphere regarded as ‘unfeminine’ and left us all a lasting legacy.

Comments (4)

  1. Margy

    Hi Susannah. Catching up on your wonderful talk on Mary Somerville. My question is in regard to her contract with her publisher, James Murray. Do we know if her terms were the same as male authors and was the money she earned paid to her or to her husband? Thanks, Margy

    • Susannah Fullerton

      I should think that the ledgers in the John Murray archive would tell us what she was paid, but I suspect that she was paid less than the men were! And anything she earned belonged to her husband – she was lucky he adored her and would not have argued about it. All so unfair for women then!

  2. Christine Rogers

    In the course you did in Edinburgh did you ever study Mary Sommerville

    • Susannah Fullerton

      No, I didn’t. Although my degree there was called an M.Sc., it was actually in the Arts and I studied English Literature. I don’t think I ever heard of Mary Spomerville while I was there.

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