 |  | | | Mary Somerville | Wednesday 26 December 2001 | | |
Today is the birthday of the acclaimed mathematician, astronomer, physical scientist and geographer Mary Somerville.
She gave her name to Somerville College, Oxford, and when she died in 1872, at the age of 92, her obituary in the Morning Post called her 'The Queen of Nineteenth Century Science'.
But as well as being the most famous scientist of her day, she was the first to put her name to the Great Suffrage Petition of 1866.
Professor Kathryn Neeley, from the University of Virginia, is the author of a new biography of Somerville. Dorothy MacMillan, from Glasgow University, is the editor of a new edition of Mary Somerville's own memoir - Queen of Science: Personal Recollections.
They both join Jenni to discuss the impact of Somerville's life and work.
We're on our Christmas holidays, so sorry but audio will not be available for individual items. Don't forget you can still hear the full programme by going to the Woman's Hour homepage or by going to the Listen Again page.
Portraits of Mary SomervilleDisclaimer
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