Cornerstone No. 188, page 20
Whewell who, in 1834, coined the term ‘scientist’ as Mary could not be termed
a ‘man of science’. Mrs. Somerville bore her husband four children, produced
her first paper in 1826 (in proceedings of the Royal Society), beame one of the
first female members, in 1835, of the Royal Astronomical Society (with Caroline
Herschel) and predicted the existence of the planet Neptune in 1842 (proven in
1846). The family moved to Italy in 1838 where Mary Somerville died on
November 29th 1872 and is buried in the English Cemetery, Naples where there
is a statue to her. On her death the
hailed her as “The Queen of
Nineteenth-Century Science”.
The name Somerville, thanks to this subject, crops up time and again around
the world (indeed, and outside this world) at Somerville College (Oxford),
Somerville Island (Barrow Strait, Canada), Somerville House (Burntisland,
Scotland), at a committee room at the Scottish Parliament, Somerville House
girls’ high school (Brisbane), the Somerville Crater on the Moon, 5771 (a
main-belt asteroid) and at the RBS.
Deadline for the next edition of Cornerstone:
12th November 2017
Eclipse Timing
An astronomer was on an expedition to Darkest Africa to observe a total eclipse
of the sun, when he's captured by cannibals. The eclipse was due the next day
around noon. To gain his freedom he planned to pose as a god and threaten to
extinguish the sun if he was not released. The timing had to be just right. So,
in the few words of the cannibals' primitive tongue that he knew, he asked his
guard what time they planned to kill him.
The guard answered, "Tradition has it that captives are to be killed when the
sun reaches the highest point in the sky on the day after their capture, so that
they may be cooked and ready to be served for the evening meal."
"Great," the astronomer replied. The guard continues, though, "But because
everyone's so excited about it, in your case we're going to wait until after the
eclipse…"