Mary Fairfax Somerville

Born in 1780. During her infancy she studied thanks to mathematics books that her brother’s professor provided her.

In 1804 she married with a captain of the Russian army; in 1807 widowed. She won a medal for solving a Diophantine equation problem. She married with her medicine cousin. She studied Greek, Botany, Astronomy, Mathematics and Physics.

She translated Mecanique Celeste into English, with comments and clarifications to the text.

In 1848, she published Physical Geography. She criticized slavery and was the first signatory to John Stuart Mill's petition for women's suffrage.

In the Great Hall of the Royal Society, which she was unable to enter, her statue was placed in recognition of her scientific achievements. Sher passed away in 1872.