Somerville

Somerville, MRS. MARY (1780-1872), was the daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir George William Fairfax. She taught herself mathematics, but her real progress in science began in 1812, when, having lost her first husband, Captain Greig, she married Dr. Somerville, inspector of the army medical board. She acquired a deep knowledge of astronomy and physics, and was intimate with Laplace and other learned men. Her first work was a translation of the Mecanique Celeste, and in 1834 appeared The Connection of the Physical Sciences, followed in 1848 by her Physical Geography, and in 1869 by Molecular and Microscopic Science. She was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society, and received a Civil List pension.