Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age
With Selections from her Correspondence

The compelling story of a woman whose scientific achievements were remarkable, especially given the constraints of her time.

Mary Somerville (Author), Martha Somerville (Edited by)

9781108013659, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 May 2010

392 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.2 cm, 0.5 kg

These Personal Recollections contain the memoirs and a selection of the correspondence of the nineteenth-century polymath Mary Somerville (1780–1872). The book was first published in 1873, a year after Mary's death, by her daughter Martha, who wrote brief introductions to the text. Mary Somerville is best known for her pioneering scientific publications which include her translation of Laplace's Mécanique Céleste (1831: also resissued in this series); On the Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834); Physical Geography (1848); and On Molecular and Microscopic Science (1869). Through these publications, Somerville made a lasting contribution to the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Somerville's correspondence deals primarily with her public life, while the memoirs offer insight into her private sphere: the discouragement she faced in pursuit of learning; her passion for women's education and suffrage; family life; and personal faith. Her story is compelling, and her experiences may resonate with many women today.

1. Introduction
2. Freedom
3. Edinburgh
4. Edinburgh supper parties
5. First marriage
6. Somerville family
7. Life in Hanover Square
8. Education of daughters
9. Society in London
10. Death of Margaret Somerville
11. Letter from Lord Brougham
12. Paris
13. Return to England
14. Rome, Napes, and Como
15. Albano
16. Publishes 'Physical Geography'
17. Spezia
18. Eclipse.

Subject Areas: Probability & statistics [PBT]