1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This day in History class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey everyone, Eave's here. It's the holiday season 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: and I'm at home keeping really cozy. But history must 4 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: go on. So here we are. Let's get into another episode. 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: Today is December. The day was December Scottish mathematician, scientists 6 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: and science writer Mary Somerville was born. Her works made 7 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: contemporary scientific ideas more accessible to a wider audience and 8 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: influenced how physical science developments were discussed. Mary was born 9 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: Mary Fairfax in Jetbrah, Scotland. She was the fifth of 10 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: seven children born to Vice Admiral Sir William George Fairfax 11 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: and Margaret Fairfax, both of whom came from well off families. 12 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: Because her father was in the Royal Navy, he was 13 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: often at sea, her mother home schooled her. When she 14 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: was young. Mary learned to read, but she did not 15 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: learn to read very well, and she could not write. 16 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: Girls were expected to learn household and social skills, and 17 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: Mary did chores and learned from the Bible. Beyond that, 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: she often spent time by the seashore and moors. When 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: Mary was around ten years old and her father returned 20 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: home from a long absence, he was unhappy with the 21 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: fact that she could not read well or write and 22 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: did not know math, so he sent her off to 23 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: a boarding school in the town of Muscleborough. But the 24 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: elite school was not a good fit for Mary. Though 25 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: she learned some handwriting, grammar, math, and French at the school, 26 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: she only stayed there for a year. As a teenager, 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: Mary spent a lot of time in social activities like 28 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: going to concerts and parties, but she all so began 29 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: studying on her own. After seeing algebraic symbols in a magazine, 30 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: she gained an interest in algebra, and she was an 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: avid reader. She took advantage of her family's library, studying navigation, Greek, Latin, 32 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: and geometry. Her parents tried to keep her from studying 33 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: math because they believed that studying such a complex academic 34 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: subject could cause girls physical and mental harm. They even 35 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: took her candles so she couldn't study at night, but 36 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: she did manage to educate herself in secret. Her brother's 37 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: tutor bought her books and she memorized some books, and 38 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: an uncle helped her with classical studies. In eighteen o four, 39 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: Mary was forced to marry her first cousin, Samuel Greek, 40 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: who was a captain in the Russian Navy. They moved 41 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: to London and had two sons, one of whom died 42 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: as a baby. She had a little more leeway to 43 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: study math and science now that she was married, but 44 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: Samuel did not support her into stual proceeds. He died 45 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh seven and she returned to Scotland with 46 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: her son. The death of her husband brought her more 47 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: financial freedom and allowed her to pursue her studies openly. 48 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: She studied higher math and physical astronomy, and she read 49 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: Isaac Newton's book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy on the 50 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,119 Speaker 1: Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation. Her studies were encouraged 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: by some scholars, like William Wallace, a professor of mathematics 52 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: at Edinburgh University. In eighteen twelve, she married Dr William Somerville, 53 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: an army doctor who was also her cousin, but unlike 54 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: Samuel Greig, he supported her studies. She began studying geology 55 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: and botany. The couple moved to London and had four 56 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: children together, though only to survive to adulthood. In London, 57 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: they became friends with other scientists like William Herschel and 58 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: Caroline Herschel, as well as Charles Babbage. In Mary published 59 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: her first scientific paper on the magnetizing power of the 60 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: more refrangible solar rays. Though the paper was praised and 61 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: she continued doing experiments with solar radiation, the idea that 62 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: the Sun's radiation could magnetize substances was proven incorrect. Her 63 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: own research got some attention, but her translations and works 64 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: detailing other scientific research and discoveries was more popular. Mary 65 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: spent four years translating and condensing mathematician Pierre Simone Laplauce's 66 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: celestial mechanics, and in one the more accessible mechanism of 67 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,679 Speaker 1: the heavens was available to the public. Three years later, 68 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: her second book, The Connection of the Physical Sciences, was published. 69 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: The book summarized what was known about the physical sciences 70 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: and showed how the sciences connected with one another. Mary 71 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: and Caroline Herschel were the first woman who were named 72 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society. Somerville continued her 73 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: scientific work after her husband and son died in eighteen 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: sixty In eighteen sixty five, respectively, she wrote Physical Geography, 75 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: which was published in eighteen forty eight. Another notable work 76 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: of hers was One a Molecular in Microscopic Science, which 77 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: was basically outdated by the time it was published in 78 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty nine. Mary died at her home in Italy 79 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy two. The next year, her autobiography was released. 80 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more 81 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you have 82 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: any burning questions, you can send them to us on Facebook, 83 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: Twitter or Instagram at t d i h C Podcast, 84 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: and if you would prefer, you can send them to 85 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: us via email at this Day at I heart media 86 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you 87 00:05:50,640 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: here again, same time tomorrow. For more podcasts from my 88 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 89 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.