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Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville: With Selections from Her Correspondence
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398 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
About the author
Mary Somerville
74 books16 followersMary Fairfax Somerville was a Scottish science writer and polymath, at a time when women's participation in science was discouraged. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and was nominated to be jointly the first female member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Caroline Herschel.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 22, 2011
A really fascinating look at "The Queen of 18th Century Science". She's a little like Forest Gump in that she rubbed elbows with everyone of note during her 92 years. She offers some interesting insights to world events includng slavery, the unification of Italy and several wars as well as natural phenomena such as eclipses, comets, volcanic eruptions and the like.
It does not delve very deeply into her scientific work, though she does catalog the various books as she is working on them, as well as some of the numerous awards she received during her lifetime.
It is especially fascinating to me that she was more accepted by the men of her era than the women, and that more so in continental Europe than in her native UK.
It does not delve very deeply into her scientific work, though she does catalog the various books as she is working on them, as well as some of the numerous awards she received during her lifetime.
It is especially fascinating to me that she was more accepted by the men of her era than the women, and that more so in continental Europe than in her native UK.
January 15, 2024
I read the version on Project Gutenberg.
This was a fascinating look at scholarship of the past and the process of mathematical and scientific discovery unfurling. The early chapters about her childhood were my favorite; she takes more time to explain the daily nuances of life back then for the audience of the time. It was also interesting to watch her interact with other educated women who are easily glossed over and minimized even today. Here's one quote:
"Our great geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison, with his wife, were among the English residents at Rome. At that time he hardly knew one stone from another. He had been an officer in the Dragoons, an excellent horseman, and a keen fox-hunter. Lady Murchison,—an amiable and accomplished woman, with solid acquirements which few ladies at that time possessed—had taken to the study of geology; and soon after her husband began that career which has rendered him the first geologist of our country. It was then that a friendship began between them and us, which will only end with life."
Note that in 2024, the Wikipedia article of Sir Murchison just says "With encouragement from his wife Charlotte, Murchison became fascinated by the young science of geology." Argh!
As seen above, the writing is pretty clean and straightforward for a modern reader. A contemporary, in a letter to the author, gave this praise of Mary Somerville's mathematical writing: "The great simplicity of your manner of writing, I may say of your mind, which appears in your writing, particularly suits the scientific sublime—which would be destroyed by what is commonly called fine writing. You trust sufficiently to the natural interest of your subject, to the importance of the facts, the beauty of the whole, and the adaptation of the means to the ends, in every part of the immense whole."
I would say that the same fine simplicity carried into her memoir-writing.
This was the kind of book that surprised and delighted me, and that I talked about at length with anyone who wanted to hear about Mary Somerville. Well worth the read.
This was a fascinating look at scholarship of the past and the process of mathematical and scientific discovery unfurling. The early chapters about her childhood were my favorite; she takes more time to explain the daily nuances of life back then for the audience of the time. It was also interesting to watch her interact with other educated women who are easily glossed over and minimized even today. Here's one quote:
"Our great geologist, Sir Roderick Murchison, with his wife, were among the English residents at Rome. At that time he hardly knew one stone from another. He had been an officer in the Dragoons, an excellent horseman, and a keen fox-hunter. Lady Murchison,—an amiable and accomplished woman, with solid acquirements which few ladies at that time possessed—had taken to the study of geology; and soon after her husband began that career which has rendered him the first geologist of our country. It was then that a friendship began between them and us, which will only end with life."
Note that in 2024, the Wikipedia article of Sir Murchison just says "With encouragement from his wife Charlotte, Murchison became fascinated by the young science of geology." Argh!
As seen above, the writing is pretty clean and straightforward for a modern reader. A contemporary, in a letter to the author, gave this praise of Mary Somerville's mathematical writing: "The great simplicity of your manner of writing, I may say of your mind, which appears in your writing, particularly suits the scientific sublime—which would be destroyed by what is commonly called fine writing. You trust sufficiently to the natural interest of your subject, to the importance of the facts, the beauty of the whole, and the adaptation of the means to the ends, in every part of the immense whole."
I would say that the same fine simplicity carried into her memoir-writing.
This was the kind of book that surprised and delighted me, and that I talked about at length with anyone who wanted to hear about Mary Somerville. Well worth the read.
August 14, 2013
Perhaps a little understating her accomplishments, it was nice to read about a female influence in the scientific world. STEM-students will recognize a number of other big names in math and science that Mary met or corresponded with.
Some letters are in French and Italien, those and even some English sections have grammatical errors from scanning, but overall it reads fine.
Some letters are in French and Italien, those and even some English sections have grammatical errors from scanning, but overall it reads fine.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews