Misplaced Pages

#197802

79-748: The Appalachian Uplands is one of the seven physiographic regions in Canada, distinguished by its topography and geology. The region includes southern Quebec, Gaspésie , New Brunswick , Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland . This is the Canadian portion of the Appalachian Mountains. The United States equivalent portion is called the Appalachian Highlands. The Geologic Survey of Canada uses three levels of physiographic classification. The "region"

158-533: A close friendship and when Lovelace encountered difficulties with a mathematical calculation, she would walk to Somerville's house and discuss the matter over a cup of tea. In 1823 the Somervilles' youngest daughter died after an illness. While living in Chelsea the Somervilles travelled through Europe on a number of occasions, leaving their children with their German governess. Among their travel companions

237-411: A concept of physiographic regions while a conflicting trend among geographers was to equate physiography with "pure morphology," separated from its geological heritage. In the period following World War II, the emergence of process, climatic, and quantitative studies led to a preference by many Earth scientists for the term "geomorphology" in order to suggest an analytical approach to landscapes rather than

316-627: A correspondence with William Wallace , with whom she discussed mathematical problems. Somerville began solving mathematical problems posed in the mathematical journal of the Military College at Marlow and eventually made a name for herself after solving a diophantine problem, for which she was awarded a silver medal in 1811. Somerville published five solutions in Volumes 3 and 4 of the Mathematical Repository under

395-437: A descriptive one. In current usage, physiography still lends itself to confusion as to which meaning is meant, the more specialized "geomorphological" definition or the more encompassing "physical geography" definition. For the purposes of physiographic mapping, landforms are classified according to both their geologic structures and histories. Distinctions based on geologic age also correspond to physiographic distinctions where

474-617: A few years to enable him to return home. In 1804 Somerville met her first husband, Lieutenant Samuel Greig. Her distant cousin, a son of Admiral Samuel Greig , he was commissioner of the Russian navy and Russian consul for Britain. They married and had two children, one of whom, Woronzow Greig, would become a barrister and scientist. They lived in London, but it was not a happy time for Somerville. Her husband did not think much of women's intellectual capacity. Indeed, Greig "possessed in full

553-746: A high school for girls in Brisbane , Australia. One of the Committee Rooms of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh has been named after her. Somerville Island ( 74°44′N 96°10′W  /  74.733°N 96.167°W  / 74.733; -96.167 ), a small island in Barrow Strait , Nunavut , was named after her by Sir William Edward Parry in 1819. The Somerville Club was founded in 1878 in London, by 1887 it

632-535: A king of science, there could be no question whatever as to the queen of science". One of the earliest uses of the word scientist was in a review by William Whewell of Somerville's second book On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences . However, the word was not used to describe Somerville herself; she was known and celebrated as a mathematician or a philosopher. Somerville College , a college of

711-603: A popular geographical tool in the United States, indicated by the publication of a USGS shapefile that maps the regions of the original work and the National Park Services's use of the terminology to describe the regions in which its parks are located. Originally used in North America , the model became the basis for similar classifications of other continents. During the early 1900s,

790-582: Is a main-belt asteroid discovered on 21 September 1987 by E. Bowell at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and named after her. Somerville crater is a small lunar crater in the eastern part of the Moon. It lies to the east of the prominent crater Langrenus . It is one of a handful of lunar craters named after women. In February 2016 Somerville was shortlisted, along with Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell and civil engineer Thomas Telford , in

869-469: Is intimately associated with certain branches of geology, as sedimentation , while geomorphology connects physiography with geography. The dynamic interlude representing the active phase of physiography weaves the basic threads of geologic history." The U.S. Geological Survey defines physiography as a study of "Features and attributes of earth's land surface", while geomorphology is defined separately as "Branch of geology dealing with surface land features and

SECTION 10

#1732765112198

948-474: Is sometimes as the science which describes and explains the physical features of the earth's surface". By 1911, the definition of physiography in Encyclopædia Britannica had evolved to be "In popular usage the words 'physical geography' have come to mean geography viewed from a particular standpoint rather than any special department of the subject. The popular meaning is better conveyed by

1027-517: Is substantial correspondence with the Byron and Lovelace families. Her shell collection was given to Somerville College, Oxford by her descendants. Somerville Square in Burntisland is named after her family and marks the site of their home. Somerville College, Oxford , was named after Somerville, as are Somerville House, Burntisland , where she lived for a time, and Somerville House ,

1106-806: Is the highest level, which is equivalent to the "division" level in the United States. In the Appalachian Uplands, there is no second-level, which in Canada is the "subregion." There are 13 tertiary level areas (called divisions in Canada) in the Appalachian Uplands region. Features include Gros Morne National Park and the Newfoundland Highlands in Newfoundland, the Cobequid Mountains , Antigonish Highlands , Cape Breton Highlands , Nova Scotia Uplands , and

1185-842: The Annapolis Lowlands in Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick Highlands, Notre-Dame Mountains including the Chic-Chocs Mountains, Sutton Mountains, and Mégantic Hills in Quebec, and the Maritime Plain, "which stretches around the coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia from the south shore of Chaleur Bay and includes Prince Edward Island and Îles-de-la-Madeleine." Physiographic regions of the world The classification mechanism has become

1264-568: The Oswalds family in Dunnikeir, whose daughter, a bold horsewoman who impressed Somerville, became a Greek and Latin scholar and married Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin . Winters were usually spent in Edinburgh. In the winter of 1796 Somerville made her first appearance at a ball under the care of Lady Burchan. Her first dancing partner was the Earl of Minto . In the autumn of 1797 her father

1343-667: The University of Oxford , is named after her, reflecting the virtues of liberalism and academic success that the college wished to embody. She is featured on the front of the Royal Bank of Scotland polymer £10 note launched in 2017 along with a quotation from her work On the Connection of the Physical Sciences . Somerville, the daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir William George Fairfax , was related to several prominent Scottish houses through her mother, Margaret Charters. She

1422-688: The optical spectrometer . Sir David Brewster , inventor of the kaleidoscope , wrote in 1829 that Mary Somerville was "certainly the most extraordinary woman in Europe – a mathematician of the very first rank with all the gentleness of a woman". Lord Brougham asked Somerville to translate the Mécanique Céleste of Pierre-Simon Laplace for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge . Laplace had, in five exhaustive volumes, summed up

1501-400: The 21st century, some confusion remains as to exactly what "physiography" is. One source states "Geomorphology includes quaternary geology, physiography and most of physical geography", treating physiography as a separate field, but subservient to geomorphology. Another source states "Geomorphology (or physiography) refers to the study of the surface features of the earth. It involves looking at

1580-552: The Army Medical Board, with whom she had four children. He encouraged and aided her in the study of the physical sciences. In 1817 her husband was elected to the Royal Society and together they moved in the leading social circles of the day. Somerville was well known to scientists, as well as to leading writers and artists. Painter J. M. W. Turner knew that Somerville and her husband's family were neighbors of

1659-599: The Earth , Gaspard Monge 's Application of Analysis to Geometry , and François Callet 's Logarithmus . In her Personal Recollections Somerville expressed the opinion that mathematical science was at a low ebb in Britain, due to a reverence for Newton that prevented scientists from adopting calculus . On the Continent astronomical and mechanical science had reached a high degree of perfection. In her opinion this deadlock

SECTION 20

#1732765112198

1738-406: The Physical Sciences , sold 15,000 copies and established her reputation in elite science. She was among those who discussed a hypothetical planet perturbing Uranus . In the 6th edition of Connexion (1842) she wrote, "If after the lapse of years the tables formed from a combination of numerous observations should be still inadequate to represent the motions of Uranus, the discrepancies may reveal

1817-626: The Victoria Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society . Somerville followed, as she said, "the noble example of Baron Humboldt , the patriarch of physical geography", and she took an extended view of geography that included the Earth, its animal, "vegetable inhabitants", as well as "the past and present condition of man, the origin, manners, and languages of existing nations, and the monuments of those that have been". Physical Geography starts with describing

1896-586: The aurora and magnetism. Eventually the book turns to vegetation, birds and mammals, and their geographical distribution in the Arctic, Europe, Asia, Africa, America and the Antarctic. Somerville ends the book with a discussion of "the distribution, condition, and future prospects of the human race". She emphasises the reciprocal dependencies in physical geography and the relationship between human beings and nature. In line with Victorian thinking, Somerville asserts

1975-406: The book she said: "In writing this book I made a great mistake, and repent it - Mathematics are the natural bent of my mind. If I had devoted myself exclusively to that study, I might probably have written something useful, as a new era had begun in that science." Regardless, the book was another success. It gave an up-to-date description of the latest discoveries revealed through the microscope and

2054-480: The book would help her understand Navigations by John Robertson . She continued in the traditional role of a daughter in a well-connected family, attending social events and maintaining a sweet and polite manner, which led to her nickname as "the Rose of Jedburgh" among Edinburgh socialites. Meanwhile, a young tutor came to stay with the family in Burntisland to educate her younger brother Henry. The tutor, Mr. Craw,

2133-487: The books in the home library. While visiting her aunt in Jedburgh she met her uncle, Dr. Thomas Somerville. She gathered her courage to tell him that she had been learning Latin. Dr. Somerville assured her that in earlier times many women had become elegant scholars. He then proceeded to enable her to improve her Latin by reading Virgil with her. While staying with another uncle, William Charters, in Edinburgh, Somerville

2212-421: The broken bits, and even large pieces, and brought them to my repository. During bad weather Somerville occupied herself with reading the books in her father's library, including Shakespeare , as well as with "domestic duties." Such duties "occupied a great part of my time; besides, I had to shew my sampler, working the alphabet from A to Z, as well as the ten numbers, on canvas". Her aunt Janet came to live with

2291-462: The capacity of women is too often held than all that has been accomplished by the whole Sisterhood of Poetical Damsels & novel-writing Authors." The book was praised by George Peacock , Professor of the University of Cambridge , thus many of the 750 copies printed were bought in Cambridge. Reviews were favourable and Somerville received letters of congratulation from "many men of science". She

2370-403: The case. A maturely dissected plateau may grade without a break from rugged mountains on the one hand to mildly rolling farm lands on the other. So also, forms which are not classified together may be superficially similar; for example, a young coastal plain and a peneplain . In a large number of cases, the boundary lines are also geologic lines, due to differences in the nature or structure of

2449-697: The confidence to persevere in her mathematical studies. She extended her studies to astronomy , chemistry , geography , microscopy , electricity and magnetism . At the age of 33 she bought herself a library of scientific books. These included Louis-Benjamin Francœur 's Elements of Mechanics , Sylvestre François Lacroix ' Algebra and Calculus Treatise , Jean-Baptiste Biot 's Analytical Geometry and Astronomy , Siméon Denis Poisson 's Treatise on Mechanics , Joseph-Louis Lagrange 's Theory of Analytical Functions , Leonhard Euler 's Elements of Algebra and Isoperimetrical Problems , Alexis Clairaut 's Figure of

Appalachian Uplands - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-543: The current state of gravitational mathematics. Mécanique Céleste was acclaimed as the greatest intellectual achievement since the Principia . Somerville produced not just a translation, but also an expanded version of the first two volumes. She wrote a standalone exposition of the mathematics behind the workings of the Solar System , of which she said "I translated Laplace's work from algebra into common language". It

2607-422: The definition of the term physiography. "In England, physiography is regarded as the introduction to physical science in general. It is made to include the elements of physics , chemistry , astronomy , physical geography, and geology , and sometimes even certain phases of botany and zoology . In America, the term has a somewhat different meaning. It is sometimes used as a synonym for physical geography, and

2686-401: The distribution of land, water, soil and rock material that forms the land surface. Land is closely linked to the geomorphology of a particular landscape", regarding physiography as synonymous with geomorphology. Yet another source states "Physiography may be viewed from two distinct angles, the one dynamic, the other passive". The same source continues by stating "In a large fashion geodynamics

2765-521: The existence, nay, even the mass and orbit of a body placed for ever beyond the sphere of vision". Predictions were fulfilled in 1846 with the discovery of Neptune revolving at a distance of 3,000,000,000 miles from the Sun. "The mass of Neptune, the size and position of his orbit in space, and his periodic time, were determined from his disturbing action on Uranus before the planet itself had been seen." Connexion ran to 10 editions, more than 9,000 copies and

2844-418: The facts of mathematical geography, and the three are so closely inter-related that they cannot be rigidly separated in any discussion". The 1919 edition of The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge further adjusted the definition to be "Physiography (geomorphology), now generally recognized as a science distinct from geology, deals with the origins and development of land forms, traces out

2923-446: The family and reportedly said to her mother "I wonder you let Mary waste her time in reading, she never shews [sews] more than if she were a man." Somerville was then sent to the village school to learn plain needlework , where she found herself annoyed that her "turn for reading was so much disapproved of, and thought it unjust that women should have been given a desire for knowledge if it were wrong to acquire it." Several times each week

3002-488: The field. In Germany, Oscar Peschel in 1870, proposed that geographers should study the morphology of the Earth's surface, having an interest in the study of landforms for the development of human beings. As the chair of geography (and a geologist by training) in Bonn, Germany, Ferdinand von Richthofen made the study of landforms the main research field for himself and his students. Elsewhere, Thomas Henry Huxley 's Physiography

3081-497: The first female Honorary Members of the Royal Astronomical Society . When John Stuart Mill organized a massive petition to Parliament to give women the right to vote, he made sure that the first signature on the petition would be Somerville's. When she died in 1872, The Morning Post declared in her obituary that "Whatever difficulty we might experience in the middle of the nineteenth century in choosing

3160-400: The forms are so recent as to be in their first erosion cycle , as is generally the case with sheets of glacial drift . Generally, forms which result from similar histories are characterized by certain similar features, and differences in history result in corresponding differences of form, usually resulting in distinctive features which are obvious to the casual observer, but this is not always

3239-422: The history of geologic changes" to descriptions that also include vegetation and/or land use. Mary Somerville Mary Somerville ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər v ɪ l / SUM -ər-vil ; née   Fairfax , formerly Greig ; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath . She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as

Appalachian Uplands - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-498: The injustice of the world in denying all those privileges of education to my sex which were so lavishly bestowed on men." At the time, slaves still worked to harvest sugar in the West Indies and in protest Somerville and her oldest brother Sam would refuse to take sugar in their tea. At Burntisland, where she stayed the summer with her uncle and aunt, Somerville had access to elementary books on algebra and geometry. She spent

3397-413: The obstacles she had faced in obtaining an education as a young girl, though she did not speculate on the nature of the problem. During her lifetime agitation had grown for women's access to higher education. In 1875 astronomer Maria Mitchell was told by a college president that he "would hire a woman scientist if she was as good as Mary Somerville". Somerville died at Naples on 29 November 1872, and

3476-402: The overall structure of planet Earth, along with a brief allusion to the location of the Earth within the Solar System . Subsequently, the book focuses on terrestrial topics, such as the most basic features of land and water, and formations such as mountains, volcanoes, oceans, rivers and lakes. Somerville goes on to discuss the elements that govern temperature, such as light, electricity, storms,

3555-546: The periods of the moon. In Somerville's time the value of scientific publications depended on the currency of the information, therefore frequent editions had to be produced. Her subsequent books reflect the time that she could be free in her domestic life as her children became more independent. They also reflect the need to earn money, as the Somervilles suffered through a number of financial crises that peaked in 1835. She publicly and plausibly maintained that she wrote only for pleasure. Privately she paid considerable attention to

3634-413: The physical sciences in that it combined the sciences of number and quantity, of rest and motion. In [astronomy] we perceive the operation of a force which is mixed up with everything that exists in the heavens or on earth; which pervades every atom, rules the motions of animate and inanimate beings, and is as sensible in the descent of a rain-drop as in the falls of Niagara; in the weight of the air, as in

3713-694: The prejudice against learned women which was common at that time." Instead, Somerville took lessons in French, which was considered more appropriate. When her husband died in 1807 she was still nursing their youngest child and she returned to Scotland. Her inheritance from Greig gave her the freedom to pursue intellectual interests. By that time she had studied plane and spherical trigonometry , conic sections and James Ferguson 's Astronomy . Somerville also read Isaac Newton 's Principia . John Playfair , professor of natural philosophy at University of Edinburgh , encouraged her studies and through him she began

3792-447: The processes of contemporary change in the crust and the circulation of the fluid envelopes. It thus draws upon physics for the explanation of the phenomena with the space-relations of which it is specially concerned. Physical geography naturally falls into three divisions, dealing respectively with the surface of the lithosphere – geomorphology; the hydrosphere – oceanography ; and the atmosphere – climatology . All these rest upon

3871-501: The processes that create and change them". Partly due to this confusion over what "physiography" actually means, some scientists have refrained from using the term physiography (and instead use the similar term geomorphology) because the definitions vary from the American Geological Institute's "the study and classification of the surface features of Earth on the basis of similarities in geologic structure and

3950-402: The profitability of her books. Through personal connections she could secure John Murray as the publisher of her first book, Mechanism , and he remained her publisher throughout her long career. Murray later commented that despite having made little profit he was very pleased to have had the honour of publishing the works of such an extraordinary person. Her second book, On the Connexion of

4029-490: The pseudonym 'A Lady'. Two of her solutions demonstrated her early adoption of differential calculus—her contribution to the circulation and visibility of calculus in early 19th-century Britain. Wallace suggested that she study the writings of French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace , which summarised the theory of gravity and collected the mathematical results established in the 50 years since Principia had been published. Somerville said that studying Laplace's work gave her

SECTION 50

#1732765112198

4108-566: The ranks. Her mother supplemented the household's income by growing vegetables, maintaining an orchard and keeping cows for milk. Her mother taught her to read the Bible and Calvinist catechisms. When her household chores were done Mary was free to roam among the birds and flowers in the garden. In her autobiography Somerville recollects that on her father's return from sea he said to his wife, "This kind of life will never do, Mary must at least know how to write and keep accounts". Ten-year-old Mary

4187-433: The spouting razor-fish. I made collections of shells, such as were cast ashore, some so small that they appeared like white specks in patches of black sand. There was a small pier on the sands for shipping limestone brought from the coal mines inland. I was astonished to see the surface of these blocks of stone covered with beautiful impressions of what seemed to be leaves; how they got there I could not imagine, but I picked up

4266-401: The study of regional-scale geomorphology was termed "physiography". Physiography later was considered to be a portmanteau of " physi cal" and "ge ography ", and therefore synonymous with physical geography , and the concept became embroiled in controversy surrounding the appropriate concerns of that discipline. Some geomorphologists held to a geological basis for physiography and emphasized

4345-465: The summer learning to play the piano. In addition to the piano she learned Greek so she could read Xenophon and Herodotus in their original versions. On her return to Edinburgh she was allowed to attend the academy of painter Alexander Nasmyth , which had opened for ladies. When Nasmyth advised another student to study Euclid's Elements to gain a foundation in perspective, astronomy and mechanical science, Somerville spotted an opportunity. She thought

4424-554: The superiority of human beings, but maintains the interdependencies and interconnectedness of creation. Physical Geography sold more copies than any of her other books and earned Humboldt's admiration. After receiving a copy of the book he wrote to her: "You alone could provide your literature with an original cosmological work". Her fourth book, Molecular and Microscopic Science, took 10 years to write. Published in 1869, she soon had doubts about devoting herself to popularising science, instead of concentrating on mathematics alone. Of

4503-434: The topographic expression of structure, and embodies a logical history of oceanic basins, and continental elevations; of mountains , plateaus and plains ; of hills and valleys. Physical geography is used loosely as a synonym, but the term is more properly applied to the borderland between geography and physiography; dealing, as it does, largely with the human element as influenced by its physiographic surroundings". Even in

4582-484: The underlying rocks. The history of "physiography" itself is at best a complicated effort. Much of the complications arise from how the term has evolved over time, both as its own 'science' and as a synonym for other branches of science. In 1848, Mary Somerville published her book Physical Geography which gave detailed descriptions of the topography of each continent, along with the distribution of plant, animals and humans. This work gave impetus to further works along

4661-453: The village school master came to teach Mary at home. In her Personal Recollections Somerville notes that the boys learned Latin at the village school, while "it was thought sufficient for the girls to be able to read the Bible; very few even learnt writing." At age 13 her mother sent her to writing school in Edinburgh, where she improved her writing skills and studied arithmetic. Back in Burntisland she taught herself sufficient Latin to read

4740-614: The violet rays of the solar spectrum", was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society in 1826. Although her conclusions were faulty, the topic was of popular interest at the time and the paper brought her to notice in scientific circles. Using a sample of silver nitrate supplied by Michael Faraday , Somerville conducted experiments on the blackening effect of sunlight, the reaction used in early experiments in photography. She later developed her technique by using an optical prism and vegetable dyes, producing an early version of

4819-476: The word physiography, a term which appears to have been introduced by Linnaeus , and was reinvented as a substitute for the cosmography of the Middle Ages by Professor Huxley. Although the term has since been limited by some writers to one particular part of the subject, it seems best to maintain the original and literal meaning. In the stricter sense, physical geography is that part of geography which involves

SECTION 60

#1732765112198

4898-407: The writer Walter Scott . She wrote, "I shall never forget the charm of this little society, especially the supper-parties at Abbotsford, when Scott was in the highest glee, telling amusing tales, ancient legends, ghost and witch stories." In 1819 Somerville's husband was appointed physician to Chelsea Hospital and the family moved into a government house at Hanover Square , Chelsea . Somerville

4977-465: Was a Greek and Latin scholar, and Somerville asked him to purchase elementary books on algebra and geometry for her. He presented Somerville with Euclid's Elements and Algebra by John Bonnycastle . Somerville would rise early to play the piano, painted during the day, and stayed up late to study Euclid and algebra. When Lord Balmuto , a family friend, invited her to visit his family, Somerville saw her first laboratory . She also spent some time with

5056-442: Was a friend of Anne Isabella Milbanke , Baroness Wentworth, and was mathematics tutor to her daughter, Ada Lovelace . With Somerville, Lovelace attended scientific gatherings where she met Charles Babbage . Somerville College owns a letter from Babbage to Somerville inviting her to view his 'Calculating Engine'. Somerville frequently visited Babbage while he was "making his Calculating-machines". Somerville and Lovelace maintained

5135-537: Was born at the manse of Jedburgh , the home of her maternal aunt and the Rev. Dr. Thomas Somerville (1741–1830) (author of My Own Life and Times ). Her childhood home was at Burntisland , Fife, where her mother was from. Somerville was the second of four surviving children (three of her siblings had died in infancy). She was particularly close to her oldest brother Sam. The family lived in genteel poverty as her father's naval pay remained meagre, despite his rise through

5214-717: Was buried there in the English Cemetery . In the year following Somerville's death, her autobiographical Personal Recollections was published, consisting of reminiscences written during her old age. Over 10,000 pages are in the Somerville Collection of the Bodleian Library and Somerville College , Oxford. The collection includes papers relating to her writing and published work, and correspondence with family members, scientists and writers, as well as other figures in public life. Also included

5293-636: Was caught up in a mutiny while serving as flag-captain under Admiral Duncan on HMS  Venerable . Despite the mutiny, the Battle of Camperdown was won by the British. Her father was knighted and made Colonel of Marines. Her eldest brother died at the age of 21 in Calcutta while serving in the East India Company 's military service. The family had hoped he would make a sufficient fortune in

5372-616: Was elected honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy , the Bristol Philosophical Institution , and the Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève in 1834. The British Crown granted her a civil pension of £200 a year in recognition of her eminence in science and literature. Somerville was passionate about astronomy and believed it to be the most extensive example of the connection of

5451-418: Was its publisher's most successful science book until The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin . It was translated into German and Italian and went through various editions in the United States. Her book Physical Geography was published in 1848 and was the first English textbook on the subject. It remained in use until the early 20th century. Physical Geography was financially successful and brought her

5530-659: Was made a member of the American Philosophical Society . From 1833 onwards Somerville and her husband spent most of their time in Italy. Somerville maintained correspondence with a large number of leading scientists and remained engaged in current debates on facts and theories. In 1868, four years before her death at 91, she was the first person to sign John Stuart Mill 's unsuccessful petition for female suffrage . In her autobiography Somerville wrote that "British laws are adverse to women". She detailed

5609-479: Was not broken until 1816, when Charles Babbage , John Herschel and George Peacock published a translation of the lectures of Sylvestre Lacroix, then a state-of-the-art calculus textbook. While staying with her family in Scotland, Somerville became acquainted with several leading intellectual lights, such as Henry Brougham . In 1812 she married another cousin, Dr William Somerville (1771–1860), inspector of

5688-537: Was published in 1831, under the title of The Mechanism of the Heavens, and it immediately made her famous. Until the 1880s Mechanism was set as a textbook for undergraduates at the University of Cambridge. After receiving a copy of Mechanism Joanna Baillie wrote to Somerville, "I feel myself greatly honoured by receiving such a mark of regard from one who has done more to remove the light estimation in which

5767-549: Was published in 1877 in Britain . Shortly after, the field of "physical geography" itself was renamed as "physiography". Afterwards, physiography became a very popular school subject in Britain, accounting for roughly 10% of all examination papers in both English and Welsh schools, and physiography was now regarded as an integral, if not the most important aspect of geography. In conjunction with these 'advances' in physiography, physically and visually mapping these descriptive areas

5846-566: Was published in two volumes and three parts. In the first part Somerville explained the latest thinking on atoms and molecules , the second covered plant life, while the third explored animal life. The book included 180 illustrations, which caused her publisher great expense. She was elected to the American Geographical and Statistical Society in 1857 and the Italian Geographical Society in 1870, and

5925-586: Was re-established as the New Somerville Club, and it disappeared by 1908. The vessel Mary Somerville was launched in 1835 at Liverpool. She traded with India for Taylor, Potter & Co., of Liverpool, and disappeared with the loss of all aboard in late 1852 or early 1853. Mary Somerville is featured in miniature in The English Bijou Almanack, 1837, with poetry by Letitia Elizabeth Landon . 5771 Somerville (1987 ST1)

6004-624: Was sent to a dancing school, where she learned manners and how to curtsey . She also accompanied her uncle and aunt on their visits to the Lyell family in Kinnordy; Charles Lyell later became a celebrated geologist and Somerville's friend. Somerville's father was a Tory , but she was a Liberal, made so by the "unjust and exaggerated abuse of the Liberal party . From my earliest years my mind revolved against oppression and tyranny, and I resented

6083-485: Was the jurist and politician Sir James Mackintosh . Before leaving London the Somervilles contacted the people they wanted to meet, which included numerous celebrated intellectuals. The Somervilles also received frequent visitors; writer Maria Edgeworth would visit them when in England. Somerville conducted experiments to explore the relationship between light and magnetism. Her first paper, "The magnetic properties of

6162-468: Was then sent to an expensive boarding school in Musselburgh , where she learned the first principles of writing, rudimentary French and English grammar. Upon returning home, she: ...was no longer amused in the gardens, but wandered about the country. When the tide was out I spent hours on the sands, looking at the star-fish and sea-urchins, or watching the children digging for sand-eels, cockles, and

6241-645: Was underway as well. The early photographers and balloonists, Nadar and Triboulet, experimented with aerial photography and the view it provided of the landscape. In 1899, Albert Heim published his photographs and observations made during a balloon flight over the Alps; he is probably the first person to use aerial photography in geomorphological or physiographical research. The block diagrams of Fenneman, Raisz, Lobeck and many others were based in part upon both aerial photography and topographic maps, giving an oblique "birds-eye" view. By 1901, there were clear differences in

#197802