However, the type of books that Somerville wrote and published, especially as regarding mathematical content, was heavily influenced by her desire and need to make a profit from her writing. Moreover, she was able to leverage her knowledge of this esoteric and highly valued mathematics to build a successful career as an author of scientific books which lasted over forty years. At a time when British mathematics was widely perceived to be in decline, Somerville positioned herself within a network of mathematicians who saw the adoption of analytical methods as the way to reform. Through her deft navigation of polite society in Edinburgh, London, and Paris, she was able to build a reputation for herself as an expert in analytical mathematics, especially as practiced and taught in France. Barred from receiving a formal education, she tenaciously pursued her studies through independent reading and the solving of problems published in the Question and Answer sections of journals. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary Members of the Royal Astronomical Society. Mary Somerville (1780–1872) was unequivocally one of the best-known mathematicians in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth-century. Mary Somerville: Scotlands First Scientist - YouTube. Mary Somerville was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. Mary Somerville: Being and Becoming a Mathematician. New obesity medications are changing the way people look at holiday meals.

Mary somerville