Talk:Mary Somerville

Outburst

In a book on J.S. Mill by R. Reeves I read:“Her Physical Geography caused an outburst from the pulpit of York cathedral.” Why? 11:44, 16 June 2009 Campolongo

What does this sentence mean?

"She also invented the commonly used variables from algebraic math." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.178.9.66 (talk) 19:37, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

External links modified

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Table of Accomplishments

Hello, I am interested in expanding the list of Mary Somerville's accomplishments, as well as providing a table for a timeline. Sumchemist (talk) 20:37, 2 February 2018 (UTC)

References:

1) Shearer, Benjamin F., and Barbara Smith. Shearer. Notable women in the physical sciences: a biographical dictionary. Greenwood Press, 1997.

2) Patterson, Elizabeth Chambers. Mary Somerville and the cultivation of science, 1815-1840. Martinus Nijhoff, 1983. Sumchemist (talk) 19:13, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

Hi Sumchemist, The "Science practice and writing" section focuses mainly on the books she authored. If you extend it with more detail or other scientific work she did, you should probably think about a structure, ie creating subsections, such as on astronomy or geography. As a guidance you could use the FA biographic articles of other scientists, here is a list https://tools.wmflabs.org/enwp10/cgi-bin/list2.fcgi?run=yes&projecta=Biography_%28science_and_academia%29&importance=Top-Class&quality=FA-Class

The articles on Charles Darwin and Johannes Kepler are structurally quite interesting. Biographical articles tend to be chronologically, but don’t include timelines and should not be written pullet point style. It’s also worthwhile thinking about extending related articles, rather than packing everything into one article. If you come across interesting information about certain books or other scientists she collaborated with, or corresponded with, the info could go into their articles. When I extended the Somerville article I came across interesting info about John Robertson (mathematician), and extended his article. Notable books can also have their own articles, none of her published books have their own article jet. Some of the books she authored went through numerous editions and were used as text books many years after she died, they may merit their own article. And please include inline citations... --Peabodybore (talk) 22:10, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

Which Somerville Island

A previous reviser had written that the Somerville Island off the coast of British Columbia was named after the subject of this article. THIS IS UNTRUE. Please note that the Somerville Island off the coast of British Columbia was named after a different Mary Somerville, daughter of Edward Somerville, by Captain Daniel Pender in 1862 (see Walbran, John T., British Columbia Coast Names: Their Origin and History, Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1971).

I added this information to the article, along with a reference to the correct island named after the subject of this article (the one in Nunavut, named by Parry in 1819), but a later reviser deemed the information about the BC island to be "random NPOV line at end of article", which they therefore removed. However, they failed to remove the reference to the Walbran work, which I've now done by moving it here.

My interest in recording this is simply to avoid someone in the future making the same mistake of thinking the BC island was connected to this Mary Somerville, and re-inserting the incorrect information. 07:03, 20 November Jonathandore

I see it is now the Barrow Strait island that is mentioned in the article. However, I have found Parry writing on 29 August 1820 "it was named after my friend Dr Somerville".[1] So, I have a nasty feeling this may mean it was named after Mary's husband and cousin William Somerville (physician). I'll look into this more. To take some comfort for Mary, the lead of William Somerville (physician) does seem to suggest his greatest claim to fame was being married to his wife! Thincat (talk) 10:22, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

Happily it seems I may have been wrong. She and Parry were good friends, so much so that she made marmalade for him to take on his voyages.[2] However, was she Dr. Somerville in 1820? And is it the same island as was named after her 1824? Thincat (talk) 13:16, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

Who's the daddy?

Hi, I'm only here because Mary Somerville is popping up on the evil search engine.

Her DoB is given as 26 December 1780, with no ref. According to William George Fairfax, her father was captured in by the French during the American Revolution in August 1778 and only released in 1782. Unless her mum had the gestation period of a small elephant, something seems to be amiss: maybe she was able to travel to France to exercise her conjugal rights? Her Personal Recollections on p. 8 shed some light on the matter, but it's all a bit hazy. >MinorProphet (talk) 02:40, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

I have removed the exact day of birth as it seems unclear and sources disgree. There is no citation currently given in the article. Some good third party biography sources would be best to add. Anna (talk) 17:46, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

The date of birth seems to be confirmed in these sources: here and here which seems to repeat the story in Mary’s autobiography here. She says her father left for sea just before she was born. I think there’s enough to reinstate the birth date in the article but as to “who’s the daddy”.....DeCausa (talk) 18:21, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

26th now added with ref. Anna (talk) 12:08, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Well, having spent the last few days in search of the history of Lt. Fairfax and HMS Alert, I realised that the evidence was in Mary Somerville's Personal Recollections all the time. On pages 7-8, she writes:

"My father was constantly employed, and twice distinguished himself by attacking vessels of superior force. He captured the first, but was overpowered by the second, and being taken to France, remained two years a prisoner on parole, when he met with much kindness from the Choiseul family [perhaps related to Étienne François, duc de Choiseul?] At last he was exchanged, and afterwards was appointed lieutenant on board a frigate destined for foreign service." (This wasn't in fact until January 1783.)

So if he was captured in early autumn 1778, and a prisoner on parole for two [short] years, he might just have been back in time to "be the daddy". After the French Revolution things changed: parole was stopped, and the life of prisoners deteriorated considerably. See Prisoners of war in Britain, 1756 to 1815; a record of their lives, their romance and their sufferings (1914) by Francis Abell. All of Chapter 1 up to the French Revolution and the Directory, p. 12 is pertinent, and Ch 2.

The captured Alert was in Brest harbour on 14 August 1778, where John Paul Jones had hoped to be assigned as her captain: but he stayed on the USS Ranger instead. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, pp. 1137-9.

Incidentally, Somerville's father, William George Fairfax, (graphite portrait at Captain Sir William George Fairfax) seems to have been the model for the character Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, commander of the fictitious Indomitable in Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd, the basis of Benjamin Britten's opera. See "The Genesis of Billy Budd" by Charles Roberts Anderson, American Literature, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Nov., 1940), pp. 332-2 (JSTOR). The real Admiral W. G. Fairfax, Mary's father, seems to have been a great-nephew of Admiral Robert Fairfax, (see The Naval Chronicle, Volume 5, p. 472.), the grandson of William Fairfax (soldier) (died at Montgomery Castle during the civil war), who was a cousin of Sir Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax, Parliamentary commander in-chief. So, mystery mostly sorted:  Done. I may get round to updating various articles one day, but atm I only have a random mass of unconnected notes. MinorProphet (talk) 19:28, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Discrepancy with wikidata. Vandalism?

The date of death is given as 28 of november in wikidata, sourced to the English Wikipedia. Could it have been a vandalized version read? How does wikidata get its data? And how can it be fixed? -- Cimon Avaro; on a pogostick. (talk) 12:56, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

Inconsistent numbers re On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences

Under Science practice and writing: "Her second book On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences sold 15,000 copies" versus "Connexion ran to 10 editions, more than 9,000 copies".

Death on November 28 or 29?

Many sources (e.g., Britannica) use Nov 29 as the day she died. We don't have a source for Nov 28 here. Does anyone know more? 80.71.142.166 (talk) 06:21, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

Earlier discussion on Wikidata having 'wrong' date without a reference source, I found this one mention ( not sure if reliable ) Anyone with access to her death certificate could confirm 29th finally? Kaybeesquared (talk) 22:09, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

References