Queen of Science

Abstract

Mary Somerville was described by her eminent friend and contemporary David Brewster as “certainly the most extraordinary woman in Europe – a mathematician of the very first rank, with the gentleness of a woman, and all the simplicity of a child”ⁱⁱⁱ and was deemed after her death “the most remarkable woman of her generation”. “Her endowments were enhanced by rare charm and geniality of manner, while the fair hair, delicate complexion and small proportions which had obtained for her in her girlhood the sobriquet of the Rose of Jedburgh formed a piquant contrast to her masculine breadth of intellect”,^iv a comment that, incidentally, demonstrates how the notion persisted that physical beauty in women was incompatible with mental prowess.

Like Caroline Herschel, Mary Somerville in her old age wrote her captivating memoirs. She was born Mary Fairfax in 1780, the daughter of Vice Admiral Sir William Fairfax (1739–1813) of the Royal Navy. Serving under Admiral (Viscount) Duncan, Fairfax had distinguished himself at the sea battle of Camperdown against the French-Dutch alliance in 1797, for which he was knighted. Mary described him as “very good looking, of a brave and noble nature, and a perfect gentleman both in appearance and character”. Mary’s mother, Lady Fairfax, the daughter of a Scottish law officer, belonged to a cultivated family with connections in academic and literary circles.