WORLD OF SCIENCE
Magnificent work
DR. T. V. PADMA
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Somerville's work reintroduced the British to the discoveries of scientists from the Continent.
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In 1812 Mary married Dr. William Somerville, a surgeon in the British navy. Soon after she married William, Mary bought a set of books recommended by a friend who was a professor of maths at the University of Edinburgh. She began every day by studying mathematics, but somehow also made time for child rearing, housework and an active social life. Mary gained the acquaintance of many scientists and mathematicians.
Breakthrough
In 1827, about 30 years after Mary began her study of mathematics, Lord Brougham wrote to her husband, requesting that she translate the works of Laplace. Mary hesitated, but was finally persuaded to undertake the daunting task after Lord Brougham agreed to keep the undertaking a secret, should she fail.
She succeeded magnificently. Her attempt resulted in a major contribution to the advancement of mathematics in her nation: a text that she called the Mechanism of the Heavens
In the early 1800s, the British were intellectually insular, because they had grown so proud of Isaac Newton's discoveries, that they felt superior to the rest of the world, including continental Europe. They did not read the work of others, not even scientists who lived in Europe. Somerville's work ended this isolation because it reintroduced the British to the discoveries of scientists from the Continent. Somerville's goal had been to reach a large audience rather than just an elite set of scientists and mathematicians. She included her commentary alongside the translation. Mary's work became a required text for Honours students at Cambridge University, and was used as a text until the next century. Dr. William Whewell, master of Trinity College, wrote that she had put all the others in the field to shame by writing such an excellent text.
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