Mary Somerville and the Empire of Science in the Nineteenth Century
View Mary Somerville and the Empire of Science in the Nineteenth Century
Presenter: Jim Secord
Published: December 2012
Age: 14-19 and upwards
Views: 1656 views
Tags: Mary Somerville
Type: Lectures
Source/institution: Royal Society
Watch now
Prof. Jim Secord, Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge. Mary Somerville (1780-1872) was a leading mathematician and author of important books on the sciences: it was in connection with a review of one of these that the term “scientist” first appeared in print. This talk examines her career in relation to debates about the role of women in the making of knowledge and her vision of science in furthering the progress of civilisation and empire.
