5 ms·

Mary Somerville, for whom the word “scientist” was coined

97 points by panic 5y ago

reactspa 5y ago
What an amazing woman! Unbelievable. I consider myself educated, and I'd never heard of her. I'm from a very poor country with a very large population. Makes me wonder how many unrealized geniuses there must be in that country. Ramanujan was one, of course.
- brandall10 5y ago
  As someone born and educated in the US, her name is well known to me, but I had no idea what her accomplishments were.
8bitsrule 5y ago
In 1834 Somerville 'became the first person to be described in print as a 'scientist'.[https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/why-there-werent-any-scientists-before-the-late-nineteenth-century/ https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/why-there-werent-any...] (She also lived to be 91yo ... not so easy at the time!) Oxford named a college after her in 1879 - although women were not allowed to matriculate until 1920!
- ardit33 5y ago
  There is Somerville Ma, a town near Boston as well. Not sure the names are a connected though.
  - donarb 5y ago
    According to the Britannica encyclopedia, it is thought to have been named in honor of Captain Richard Somers, hero of the Tripolitan-American (Barbary) War. https://www.britannica.com/place/Somerville-Massachusetts https://www.britannica.com/place/Somerville-Massachusetts
zeristor 5y ago
According to Wikipedia she was Ada Lovelace's Maths tutor, strange I missed that I must have read about Ada Lovelace several times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville And there I was, wondering if they had ever met.
- jonjacky 5y ago
  Somerville was also a helpful influence in Ada's life, according to this passage in London Lights by James Hamilton, a fascinating book about scientists and artists on the London scene in those days: Ada Byron began to make a habit of going to Babbage's with the Somervilles ... Her natural brilliance in the abstract language of mathematics that few understood, her disturbed upbringing as Byron's daughter, and the elevated position in society it was her lot to display and maintain created a confused and uncertain young woman. ... It was the rare piece of real good fortune for Ada, however, that she had the sensible and structured example of Mary and William Somerville's family life to balance her self-absorption, the insistence of her many suitors, and Charles Babbage's frantic self-certainty. ...
bckr 5y ago
I recognized the yellow theme right away. Apparently "Brain Pickings" was, according to the author, an "unbearable" name. But it was catchy and evocative. "The Marginalian" is sterile and difficult to say. Oh well.
- meristohm 5y ago
  “The Margin Alien” is a fine and fitting next step. It’s okay to change.
  - robbedpeter 5y ago
    Maybe "The marginal Ian"?
  - gala8y 5y ago
    "The Margin Alien" is also a nice mnemonic. On my deathbed I'll certainly remember few of mnemonics, incl.: - meaning of a word 'duress' in English ("Durable Durex used under duress.") - name of a variety of cherry tree, Shidare Sakura, I was sent to buy ("She dares to drink sake.") For me 'Brain Pickings' was always a nice name with vivid meaning.
  - bckr 5y ago
    I relent.
termau 5y ago
There is a all girls school in Brisbane named after her called, fittingly, Somerville house.
causi 5y ago
The article is very slightly misleading on the nature of the coining. It was not a forging of a new term from some kind of rapturous regard, but a sarcastic remark on behalf of Mr. Whewell. It was only years later that he saw the real value in the word and began promoting it seriously. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00033796200202722 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0003379620020272...
- jterrys 5y ago
  Interestingly, there was a Hacker News discussion on this article when it first came out, debating the claims made by the paper you cited. TL;DR: It wasn't sarcastic. Whewel was an admirer of Somerville. The paper made some liberal attributions https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24863419 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24863419
- HPsquared 5y ago
  Many such cases: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation

97 points by panic 5y ago

What an amazing woman! Unbelievable. I consider myself educated, and I'd never heard of her. I'm from a very poor country with a very large population. Makes me wonder how many unrealized geniuses there must be in that country. Ramanujan was one, of course.

brandall10 5y ago
As someone born and educated in the US, her name is well known to me, but I had no idea what her accomplishments were.

8bitsrule 5y ago

In 1834 Somerville 'became the first person to be described in print as a 'scientist'.[https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/why-there-werent-any-scientists-before-the-late-nineteenth-century/ https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/why-there-werent-any...] (She also lived to be 91yo ... not so easy at the time!) Oxford named a college after her in 1879 - although women were not allowed to matriculate until 1920!

ardit33 5y ago
There is Somerville Ma, a town near Boston as well. Not sure the names are a connected though.
- donarb 5y ago
  According to the Britannica encyclopedia, it is thought to have been named in honor of Captain Richard Somers, hero of the Tripolitan-American (Barbary) War. https://www.britannica.com/place/Somerville-Massachusetts https://www.britannica.com/place/Somerville-Massachusetts

zeristor 5y ago

According to Wikipedia she was Ada Lovelace's Maths tutor, strange I missed that I must have read about Ada Lovelace several times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville And there I was, wondering if they had ever met.

jonjacky 5y ago
Somerville was also a helpful influence in Ada's life, according to this passage in London Lights by James Hamilton, a fascinating book about scientists and artists on the London scene in those days: Ada Byron began to make a habit of going to Babbage's with the Somervilles ... Her natural brilliance in the abstract language of mathematics that few understood, her disturbed upbringing as Byron's daughter, and the elevated position in society it was her lot to display and maintain created a confused and uncertain young woman. ... It was the rare piece of real good fortune for Ada, however, that she had the sensible and structured example of Mary and William Somerville's family life to balance her self-absorption, the insistence of her many suitors, and Charles Babbage's frantic self-certainty. ...

bckr 5y ago

I recognized the yellow theme right away. Apparently "Brain Pickings" was, according to the author, an "unbearable" name. But it was catchy and evocative. "The Marginalian" is sterile and difficult to say. Oh well.

meristohm 5y ago
“The Margin Alien” is a fine and fitting next step. It’s okay to change.
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  Maybe "The marginal Ian"?
- gala8y 5y ago
  "The Margin Alien" is also a nice mnemonic. On my deathbed I'll certainly remember few of mnemonics, incl.: - meaning of a word 'duress' in English ("Durable Durex used under duress.") - name of a variety of cherry tree, Shidare Sakura, I was sent to buy ("She dares to drink sake.") For me 'Brain Pickings' was always a nice name with vivid meaning.
- bckr 5y ago
  I relent.

termau 5y ago

There is a all girls school in Brisbane named after her called, fittingly, Somerville house.

causi 5y ago

The article is very slightly misleading on the nature of the coining. It was not a forging of a new term from some kind of rapturous regard, but a sarcastic remark on behalf of Mr. Whewell. It was only years later that he saw the real value in the word and began promoting it seriously. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00033796200202722 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0003379620020272...

jterrys 5y ago
Interestingly, there was a Hacker News discussion on this article when it first came out, debating the claims made by the paper you cited. TL;DR: It wasn't sarcastic. Whewel was an admirer of Somerville. The paper made some liberal attributions https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24863419 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24863419
HPsquared 5y ago
Many such cases: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation