Mary Fairfax Somerville 1780 - 1872, mathematicain, scientist, philosophers. Mary Fairfax Somerville was not offered an early education and yet she became one of the outstanding scholarsof all time. in 1869 she was elected to the American Philosophical Association, just one of the many honors bestowedon her.
Chronology 1780 Mary Fairfax Somerville was born in Scotland on December 26, 1780 to Margaret Charters Fairfax and her husband, Lieutenant William George Fairfax, a vice admiral in the British navy. The couple were held in regard by the community. Mary did not receive early training or formal education. She spent much of her time exploring the surrounding area and she learned domestic skills. 1793 She started at an Edinburgh boarding school. She taught herself to read Latin and she read Caesar's Commentaries. It was fortunate for all of us that Mary Fairfax saw that magazine and had the courage to approach her brother's tutor since went on to become one of the major mathematicians of all time. 1804 She married a cousin,Captain Samuel Greig. Special notes: Somerville biography.
Born: 26 December 1780 in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland Died: 29 November 1872 in Naples, Italy Click the picture aboveto see four larger pictures Show birthplace location Mary Somerville was the daughter of William George Fairfax and his second wife Margaret Charters.
Mary Fairfax was born in the church manse in Jedburgh, the home of her mother's sister Martha Charters and Martha's husband Thomas Somerville. Mary's father was a naval officer, later Vice-Admiral Sir William George Fairfax, who was at sea at the time of her birth. Mary was the fifth of seven children but three died very young. ... like a wild animal escaped out of a cage. After this Mary returned to her home in Burntisland but she began to educate herself by reading every book that she could find in her home. However, one member of Mary's family did encourage her with her educational ambitions. In fact it was through Nasmyth that Mary first became interested in mathematics. Samuel Greig died 3 years after the marriage.
Mary Somerville. Mary Fairfax Somerville (26 December 1780 – 28 November 1872) 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. Early life[edit] Following this, she was informally taught elementary geography and astronomy, but found her education limited compared to what her brother might receive. To supplement this, therefore, she was taught Latin by her uncle, Dr Thomas Somerville, who described her as an eager student.[1] Once, listening in to her brother receive tutoring in mathematics, she answered when he could not; impressed, his tutor allowed her to continue with lessons unofficially.
In 1804 she married her distant cousin, the Russian Consul in London, Captain Samuel Greig, son of Admiral Samuel Greig. Translation and writing[edit] The English Cemetery, Naples. Notes[edit] Mary Somerville. December 26, 1780 - November 29, 1872 Written by Shane Wood, Class of 1997 (Agnes Scott College) Mary Fairfax Somerville was born on December 26, 1780 in Jedburgh Scotland, the daughter of Margaret Charters and Lieutenant William George Fairfax, a vice admiral in the British Navy (Osen 96).
With her father frequently out at sea for long periods of time and her mother exerting few restraints on her other than insisting that she learn to read the Bible and say her prayers, Mary was, in her own words, "allowed to grow up a wild creature" (Perl 84). Despite the family's fortunate economic standing, Mary's education was, as was characteristic of much of the education of young girls of her time, quite "scant and haphazard" (Osen 97). She found her only year of full-time schooling, during which she attended a boarding school for girls in Musselburgh, rather miserable and unhappy (Osen 97). In 1804, at the age of twenty four, Mary married her cousin, Captain Samuel Greig. April 1995.