Unlike those of her peers, Mary Somerville’s story is filled with coincidences and destiny’s chosen moments that can only be described as written by fate. From the beginning, Somerville was allowed to grow up independent and free of the standard strictness enforced by officious parents. Through her upbringing, Somerville rarely had controlled and encouraged contact with the maths and sciences. In fact, she only studied for one full year and didn’t begin arithmetic until age 13 after seeing some “mysterious symbols” in a fashion magazine which propelled her interest in algebra. After her adolescent era ended, Somerville married her cousin Captain Samuel Greig who had low interest in math. The death of her first husband created a unique environment rare to women at the time: one of freedom and uncircumscribed liberty. As a result, she was able to pursue her long latent talents and inclinations for math, science, and astronomy. Following her demise, she
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For starters, her education calculus was haphazard at best. She often listened to her brother’s mathematics lessons and self taught herself calculus using Euclid’s Elements, a classic text on arithmetic and geometry, which formed the foundation for her perspective towards astronomy and math. However, her parents strongly disapproved of her studies believing it to be indecent, thus Somerville often found herself studying by candlelight late at night. To add to her heretics, her friends, colleagues, and first husband also did not support and disapproval of her passions. Overcoming these incessant struggles, Somerville went on to become a master of algebra, geometry, and arithmetic. With her extensive and grounded command of mathematics, Somerville was able to write works and theories in many other fields. In fact, her greatest accomplishments include 4 books one on each of the following topics- astronomy, the physical sciences, geography, and microscopic
For starters, her education calculus was haphazard at best. She often listened to her brother’s mathematics lessons and self taught herself calculus using Euclid’s Elements, a classic text on arithmetic and geometry, which formed the foundation for her perspective towards astronomy and math. However, her parents strongly disapproved of her studies believing it to be indecent, thus Somerville often found herself studying by candlelight late at night. To add to her heretics, her friends, colleagues, and first husband also did not support and disapproval of her passions. Overcoming these incessant struggles, Somerville went on to become a master of algebra, geometry, and arithmetic. With her extensive and grounded command of mathematics, Somerville was able to write works and theories in many other fields. In fact, her greatest accomplishments include 4 books one on each of the following topics- astronomy, the physical sciences, geography, and microscopic