author
Mary Somerville
1780–1872
A largely self-taught Scottish mathematician and science writer, she helped make some of the most difficult ideas of her age readable for a wider public. Her books linked astronomy, physics, geography, and mathematics in a way that inspired generations of readers.
6 Audiobooks
On Molecular and Microscopic Science, Volume 1 (of 2)
by Mary Somerville
On Molecular and Microscopic Science, Volume 2 (of 2)
by Mary Somerville
Physical Geography
by Mary Somerville
Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville
by Mary Somerville
On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences
by Mary Somerville
A Preliminary Dissertation on the Mechanisms of the Heavens
by Mary Somerville
About the author
Born in 1780, she grew into one of the best-known scientific writers of the 19th century. Reliable reference sources describe her as a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath, remembered especially for her work in mathematics and astronomy and for the clarity of her scientific writing.
Her reputation rests in large part on books that explained complex science for educated general readers. She is especially associated with Mechanism of the Heavens and On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences, works that helped bring advanced ideas in celestial mechanics and the physical sciences to a much broader audience.
Her achievements were widely recognized in her lifetime. In 1835, she and Caroline Herschel became the first women named honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society, and her name later lived on in places such as Somerville College, Oxford.