She was the first female to be part of the Royal Astronomical Society. Her research led to the first usage of the word ‘scientist’.
(Photo: Google/ Screengrab)
Google dedicated its doodle to groundbreaking Scottish scientist, Mary Somerville on Sunday.
On this day in 1826, the Google Doodle website informs, the Royal Society of London, the UK’s National Science Academy read one of the scientist’s experimental physics papers.
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The paper was the first by a female author to be published at Philosophical Transactions. It is the world’s oldest science publication.
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Today, Google doodle honoured Scottish scientist Somerville surrounded by books and holding a feather to write.
The scientist was born on December 26, 1780, in Jedburgh and was an astronomer and mathematician.
She was the first female to be part of the Royal Astronomical Society. Her research led to the first usage of the word ‘scientist’.
Her book also helped provide the clues which led to the discovery of Neptune by John Couch Adams.
In 1831, Mary Somerville’s The Mechanism of the Heavens revolutionized the existing understanding of the solar system. This highly-praised essay laid the groundwork for her breakthrough book, The Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834), which became among the best selling science books of the 19th century. Its third edition in 1836 provided the clues astronomer John Couch Adams needed to discover Neptune.
Somerville passed away on November 29, 1872.
In 2016, the Institute of Physics celebrated Sommerville’s innovative thinking, which paved the way for the ever-increasing number of women in STEM fields, by introducing the Mary Somerville Medal and Prize for scientists who engage the public through their work.
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