Mary Somerville: Science, Illumination, and the Female Mind [Hardcover]

A biography of the leading woman of science in Great Britain during the nineteenth century.This book tells the life story of the leading woman of science in Great Britain during the nineteenth century and offers in-depth analysis of the factors that allowed her to achieve prominence; her extensive scientific writings; and the processes by which Mary Somerville and her work were committed to historical memory. It argues for a broad definition of significance in science and a new narrative for women's participation in science, both of which make it easier to appreciate the accomplishments of Somerville and other women scientists.This book tells the life story of the leading woman of science in Great Britain during the nineteenth century and offers in-depth analysis of the factors that allowed her to achieve prominence; her extensive scientific writings; and the processes by which Mary Somerville and her work were committed to historical memory. It argues for a broad definition of significance in science and a new narrative for women's participation in science, both of which make it easier to appreciate the accomplishments of Somerville and other women scientists.In an era when science was perceived as a male domain, Mary Somerville (1780-1872) became both the leading woman scientist of her day and an integral part of the British scientific community. Her scientific writings contributed to one of the most important cultural projects of Victorian Britain: establishing science as a distinct, integral, and unifying element of culture. By the time of her death, Somerville had achieved near-mythic status in Britain. Her works reflect both the power of science to capture imagination and the influence of cultural factors in the development of science. They provide a window into a particularly lucid and illuminated mind and into one of the most formative periods in the evolution of modern scientific culture. This retelling of Somerville's story focuses on the factors thlóV