Category: Biographies

Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville

LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM--WRITES "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS"--ANECDOTE OF THE ROMAN IMPROVISATRICE--LETTERS FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND PROFESSOR WHEWELL--ELECTED HON. MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY--NOTICE IN THE ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES, AND LETTER FROM M. BIOT--PENSIO...

Chapters

28. CHAPTER XV.

ALBANO--POPULAR SINGING--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--GIBSON--PERUGIA--COMET OF 1843--SUMMER AT VENICE--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE AND MISS JOANNA BAILLIE--ELECTED ASSOCIATE...

29. CHAPTER XVI.

PUBLISHES "PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY"--LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT--CHRISTMAS AT COLLINGWOOD--LETTER FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--FARADAY--LETTER FROM FARADAY--KEITH JOHNSTONE'S MAPS--WINTER AT MUNI...

26. CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO ENGLAND--LETTER FROM HALLAM--TREATISE ON THE FORM AND ROTATION OF THE EARTH AND PLANETS--SECOND EDITION OF "CONNEXION OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES"--LETTERS FROM MARIA EDGEWOR...

30. CHAPTER XVII.

SPEZIA--GENOA--BEGINS MOLECULAR AND MICROSCOPIC SCIENCE--TURIN--SPEZIA--BRITISH FLEET--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--GARIBALDI--SEVERE ILLNESS--FLORENCE--MY BROTHER'S DEATH--NAP...

31. CHAPTER XVIII.

ECLIPSE--VISITS OF SCIENTIFIC MEN--LIFE AT NAPLES--DARWIN'S BOOKS--REMARKS ON CIVILIZATION--FINE AURORA BOREALIS--DEATH OF HERSCHEL--SUMMER AT SORRENTO--BILL FOR PROTECTION OF A...

13. CHAPTER I.

The life of a woman entirely devoted to her family duties and to scientific pursuits affords little scope for a biography. There are in it neither stirring events nor brilliant...

24. CHAPTER XI.

LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM--WRITES "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS"--ANECDOTE OF THE ROMAN IMPROVISATRICE--LETTERS FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND PROFESSOR WHEWELL--ELECTED HON. MEMBER OF...

19. CHAPTER VII.

[My father was appointed, in 1816, a member of the Army Medical Board, and it became necessary for him to reside in London. He and my mother accordingly wished farewell to Scotl...

18. CHAPTER VI.

[With regard to my father's family, I cannot do better than quote what my grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Somerville, says in his "Life and Times":--"I am a descendant of the ancie...

15. CHAPTER III.

[My mother's next visit was to the house of her uncle, William Charters, in Edinburgh. From thence she was enabled to partake of the advantages of a dancing-school of the period.]

14. CHAPTER II.

[My mother remained at school at Musselburgh for a twelvemonth, till she was eleven years old. After this prolonged and elaborate education, she was recalled to Burntisland, and...

25. CHAPTER XII.

My health was never good at Chelsea, and as I had been working too hard, I became so ill, that change of air and scene were thought absolutely necessary for me. We went accordin...

27. CHAPTER XIV.

[My mother was already meditating writing a book upon Physical Geography, and had begun to collect materials for it, when my father's long and dangerous illness obliged her to l...

16. CHAPTER IV.

[By this time my mother was grown up, and extremely pretty. All those who knew her speak of her rare and delicate beauty, both of face and figure. They called her the "Rose of J...

21. did. One evening, when he was so occupied, I was playing the piano, when

suddenly I fainted; he was very much startled, as neither I nor any of our family had ever done such a thing. When I recovered, I said it was the smell of garlic that had made m...

22. CHAPTER IX.

We went frequently to see Mr. Babbage while he was making his Calculating-machines. He had a transcendant intellect, unconquerable perseverance, and extensive knowledge on many...

17. CHAPTER V.

[Mr. Samuel Greig was a distant relation of the Charters family. His father, an officer in the British navy, had been sent by our government, at the request of the Empress Catha...

23. CHAPTER X.

Our happy and cheerful life in Hanover Square came to a sad end. The illness and death of our eldest girl threw Somerville and me into the deepest affliction. She was a child of...

20. CHAPTER VIII.

When we returned to Hanover Square, I devoted my morning hours, as usual, to domestic affairs; but now my children occupied a good deal of my time. Although still very young, I...

7. CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO ENGLAND--LETTER FROM HALLAM--TREATISE ON THE FORM AND ROTATION OF THE EARTH AND PLANETS--SECOND EDITION OF "THE CONNEXION OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES"--LETTERS FROM MARIA...

10. CHAPTER XVI.

PUBLISHES "PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY"--LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT--CHRISTMAS AT COLLINGWOOD--LETTER FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--FARADAY--LETTER FROM FARADAY--KEITH JOHNSTON'S MAPS--WINTER AT MUNIC...

5. CHAPTER XI.

LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM--WRITES "MECHANISM OF THE HEAVENS"--ANECDOTE OF THE ROMAN IMPROVISATRICE--LETTERS FROM SIR JOHN HERSCHEL AND PROFESSOR WHEWELL--ELECTED HON. MEMBER OF...

11. CHAPTER XVII.

SPEZIA--GENOA--BEGINS MOLECULAR AND MICROSCOPIC SCIENCE--TURIN--SPEZIA--BRITISH FLEET--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--GARIBALDI--SEVERE ILLNESS--FLORENCE--MY BROTHER'S DEATH--NAP...

12. CHAPTER XVIII.

ECLIPSE--VISITS OF SCIENTIFIC MEN--LIFE AT NAPLES--DARWIN'S BOOKS--REMARKS ON CIVILIZATION--FINE AURORA BOREALIS--DEATH OF HERSCHEL--SUMMER AT SORRENTO--BILL FOR PROTECTION OF A...

9. CHAPTER XV.

ALBANO--POPULAR SINGING--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE--GIBSON--PERUGIA--COMET OF 1843--SUMMER AT VENICE--LETTERS FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE AND MISS JOANNA BAILLIE--ELECTED ASSOCIATE...

4. CHAPTER X.

6. CHAPTER XII.

2. CHAPTER VI.

8. CHAPTER XIV.

1. CHAPTER IV.

3. CHAPTER IX.