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CAROLINE HERSCHEL

BACKGROUND/BIOGRAPHY:

March 16, 1750 - January 9, 1848

Born in Hannover, Germany and worked in Britain as a astronomer

Has a brother named Sir William Herschel

Spent her youth cleaning and doing chores for her mother

Had typhus, a disease that stunted her growth, at the age of 10

Lost her vision on her left eye

Only 4 feet and 3 inches tall

Her mother thought it was best to train her as a house servant

Once a trained and successful singer

EDUCATION:

Her mother didn’t want her to be educated so she didn’t go to college

Didn’t speak English well

Never learned multiplication

Her father and brother tutored her in things like math and reading

ACHIEVEMENTS:

First professional female astronomer

First woman to receive a salary as a scientist

First woman in England to hold a government position

First woman to publish scientific findings in the Philosophical Transactions Of the Royal Society

First woman to be named an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society

First person to discover a comet in 1786

Received a gold medal for an unpublished revision and reorganization of the Astronomical Society in 1828

Received a Gold Medal of Science from the King of Prussia in 1846

Discovered 8 Comets from the 1786-1797

HARDSHIPS/OBSTACLES:

Her mother hampered her career

Had to stay home to wash and clean

Did not go to school

Got typhus at the age of 10

Her brother, William had to tutor her in mathematics

Grinded and polished mirrors

Lack of familial encouragements

Lack of tools and resources that other people had

Treated differently by the “experts” in the field due to her gender

Spent her youth doing chores demanded by her mother

Her mother thought she should do nothing but running the house

LEGACY:

Many astronomical objects that she discovered was named after her (asteroid 281 Lucretia), a lunar crater and a star cluster

Her achievements allowed many women to have the courage to pursue a career in the sciences (originally reserved for men only)

SOURCES:

https://www.newscientist.com/people/caroline-herschel/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caroline-Lucretia-Herschel

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/caroline_herschel

https://www.famousscientists.org/caroline-herschel/

https://womenineuropeanhistory.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/caroline-herschel/#:~:text=Caroline%20faced%20many%20obstacles%20throughout,“experts”%20in%20the%20field.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Herschel

https://mathwomen.agnesscott.org/women/herschel.htm

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/caroline-herschel-first-paid-female-astronomer#:~:text=Caroline%20Herschel's%20legacy,Cluster'%20(NGC%202360).

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Background/Biography:

Margaret Cavendish was born in 1623 in Colchester, Essex and was an avid reader, but didn’t receive a formal education.

She put her ideas at an early age, even though it was not respected by the public. Her and her brother has intellectual conversations.

She was viewed as an extravagant person and dressed unique compared to the crowd.

She was a maid of honor for Queen Henrietta Maria

Married Willam Cavendish

He used her enlightenment ideas to spread word to many other philosophers like John Locke.

She attended the meets of the philosophers, but it hasn’t been discovered how much she participated in these topics.

She died in 1673 at 50 years old.

Education:

She did not receive a formal education in disciplines such as mathematics, history, philosophy, and the classical languages,

She had access to scholarly libraries and was an avid reader.

Her brother taught her some of her education through intellectual conversations

Her education wasn’t respected by the public

She was bilingual

An enlightened philosopher

She was a very talented writer

Achievements :

Margaret's most notable achievement was undoubtedly literary.

She was a prolific author, publishing poems, plays, literary critiques, volumes of 'observations' - even works on natural philosophy.

She was bilingual with languages like Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

She Published a variety of different writings. For example: Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, Poems and Fancies (1653)

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, The World's Olio (1655)

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, Observations on Experimental Philosophy (1666)

Obstacles:

Margaret was forced to educate herself in secret, due to her not being able to express her thoughts and opinions about her education

She wasn’t allowed to study in front of her family, and always studied in private in her library

Her work received little contemporary recognition from others

She attempted to gain a profit from her husband's estate, but failed as people believed that a woman should not have such a large sum of money

Her writing was heavily criticized by others who didn’t believe in her beliefs

Was exiled from the kingdom along with her husband

Legacy:

Many of her books are in print today, perhaps justifying her prophetic statement in Playes Never Before Printed (1668): ‘I regard not so much the present as future Ages, for which I intend all my Books.’

Margaret is perhaps only recently coming to receive the recognition she longed for and deserved, as researchers have begun to show an increased interest in both her literary works and her philosophical thought in the context of the time and wider philosophical debates.

Margaret sought to establish a reputation as a credible writer and was preoccupied with fame and being remembered.

She wrote of her hope that she would be remembered for her ‘worth and merit’, ‘wit’ and ‘wise actions’, as well as her works – ‘the labor of my brain’. Yet criticism and writing surrounding her life often focused on her eccentric personality more than her work:

Link: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/margaret-cavendish/#:~:text=A%20prolific%20writer&text=But%20her%20appeal%20to%20the,Poems%20and%20Fancies%2C%20in%201653.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/newcastle/biographies/biographyofmargaretcavendish,duchessofnewcastleupontyne(c1623-1673).aspx#:~:text=Margaret's%20most%20notable%20achievement%20was,even%20works%20on%20natural%20philosophy.

https://www.newscientist.com/people/margaret-cavendish/

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/margaret-cavendish/

Link:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/margaret-cavendish/#:~:text=A%20prolific%20writer&text=But%20her%20appeal%20to%20the,Poems%20and%20Fancies%2C%20in%201653.

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Background:

Born in April 2, 1647

Was rich

Lived in Germany

Father was an artist and taught her art skills when she was young

In her 50s when ventured to South America

Two daughters

Had a husband but left him to join a religious community

Lived in Amsterdam after leaving husband

Died in Jan 13 1717 (age 69)

Education:

Enjoyed a privileged childhood, had a traditional girl’s education of reading, writing, and household tasks.

Learned painting and printmaking alongside her brothers

Fascinated by metamorphosis that insects undergo, so she studied them in her backyard

At 13 she was studying butterfly metamorphosis, years before any other scientist published an accurate description of the process.

After leaving her husband, she moved to a religious community where she studied Latin and entomology

Illustrated scientific textbooks in amsterdam

She started preserving crocodiles, iguanas and snakes for rich collectors. She observed the habits and life cycles of these reptiles and ends up created a classification system still admired today

Achievements:

Ran a only female scientific illustration workshop in Europe during her lifetime

Was one of the first to closely observe and record the process of insect metamorphosis

Described life styles of about 200 different insects

Was called the “mother of entomology”

Sailed to South America

Learned how to make full color engravings at a young age

Illustrated scientific textbooks

Did a dream trip across the Atlantic

Hardships:

Father died when she was young, mother died as well

Her brothers were able to travel to finish education, while she wasn’t allowed that further education

Was forced to look in her own backyard for education, where she discovered her love of insects

Her religious community did not life scientific discovery, so she had to leave, and her husband left her -Because of the religious communities

Her trip to South America was scrutinized and unheard of

Legacy:

Her scientifically accurate paintings were used by scientists of etymology, she created the visual style used today for scientific drawings

Her books on etymology were used to further research in a wide variety of insects

Made scientific discoveries for many species of insects

Made a classification system still used today

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Sibylla-Merian

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/animals/maria-sibylla-merian-pioneering-artist-flora-and-fauna

https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/maria-merians-butterflies/the-queens-gallery-palace-of-holyroodhouse/explore-the-exhibition/maria-sibylla-merian-1647-1717

https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/getty_books/merian/index.html

https://wams.nyhistory.org/early-encounters/dutch-colonies/maria-sibylla-merian/#:~:text=She%20was%20raised%20in%20a,and%20printmaking%20alongside%20her%20brothers.

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Émilie du Châtelet by Mahir S, Harsh S, Yug P, and Varsha R

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Émilie du Châtelet by Mahir S, Harsh S, Yug P, and Varsha R

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Background/Biography

Born in Paris

Married Marquis de Chatelet (a military officer) at 19

Invited mathematicians, philosophers, and writers to spend time at her chateau in Cirey

Born in December 17th, 1706 and she died on September 10th, 1749

She died while giving childbirth

She was a French natural philosopher and mathematician

Her partner was Voltaire (romantic involvement and collaboration)

Children are Franchise Gabriel Pauline, Louis Marie Florent, and Victor-Esprit Stanislaw-Adelelaide du Chatelet

Her father held the position of the Principal Secretary and Introducer of ambassadors to King Louis XIV

Her mother was Gabrielle Anne de Froullay

She was very wealthy

Education

Her father recognized her intellect and talked to her about astronomy when she was ten years old

By the age of twelve she was fluent in Italian, Greek, Latin and German

She used her mathematical skills to devise strategies for gambling

After she had three children she resumed her mathematical studies

She sought some of the best tutors to mentor her

Nothing is known with certainty about her education

She was taught astronomy by Frontenelle who was the perpetual secretary of the French Academie des Sciences

She was taught fencing and horse riding by her dad, two unusual things for a girl to be taught at that time

She received education in mathematics, literature, and science

Achievements

Translated and interpreted Newton’s Principia (contained principles of mechanics and gravity)

Her manuscript allowed Newton’s ideas to be more accepted throughout France as they were very controversial at first

She participated in the famous vis viva debate

Her ideas were represented in the Encyclopedie that was published shortly after her death

She wrote a significant number of philosophical essays, letters, and books that were well known in her time

Hardships/Obstacle

She was deprived of a formal education while her brothers were sent to the most prestigious Jesuit secondary schools

Married Marquis du Châtelet at age 19 and husband was in military so he is often away from home

She had to hire her own teachers to help her learn languages and mathematics

Born into wealthy family but still no support

She only had 9 months to do her most important work because she became pregnant unexpectedly

Had to work really hard and fast through many sleepless nights when she found she was pregnant (many things could go wrong at childbirth)

Her mother did not approve of her intellect

Legacy

Her ideas are greatly represented in the Encyclopedie

A main-belt minor planet and crater of Venus were named after her

Her translation of Principia published in 1756 is still considered the standard French translation

Numerous biographies, books, and plays have been written about her life and work in the two centuries since her death

Her legacy has been submused under her intellectual partner’s legacy (Voltaire)

Sites

Hardships/Obstacles - https://faculty.humanities.uci.edu/bjbecker/RevoltingIdeas/emilie.html#:~:text=She%20was%20tall%20and%20clumsy,was%20often%20away%20from%20home

Background/biography - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émilie_du_Châte

Education - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émilie_du_Châtelet

Legacy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émilie_du_Châtelet

Achievements - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émilie_du_Châtelet

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Anne Conway

Background/biography:

1631-1679

Born in London

Daughter of Sir Heneage Finch and Elizabeth Cradock

Raised in the house now known as the Kensington Palace

Youngest child in the family

Married Edward, third Viscount Conway

Very good at reading

Famous for philosophy

Grew up in a very wealthy family

Education:

Tutored as a young child at home

Unable to receive a formal education due to her gender

Learned Latin and later learned Greek and Hebrew

Had been a tutor for one of her brothers at Cambridge

Showed interest in philosophy and theology

Achievements:

Influenced the work of Gottfried Leibniz

Her mastery of the intricate doctrines of the Lurianic Kabbalah

Her authorship of a treatise criticizing Descartes, Hobbes, and Spinoza

Wrote one complete philosophical treatise

Hardships/obstacles:

Lifelong suffering of headaches

She had many physicians try to treat her crippling headaches

Could not attend University

Her only child died of smallpox

She had a mind-body problem, consciousness relationship between human mind and body

Her family and husband did not approve of her interest in Quakerism

Legacy:

Author of single treaties of philosophy

Her view of the natural world incorporated a spiritual vision

Sources:

https://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc0337/authors/anne.conway.html

https://apeterman.digitalscholar.rochester.edu/phl202f21/anne-conway/anne-conway-biography/

https://philosophynow.org/issues/145/Anne_Conway_1631-1679

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conway/

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/anne-conway-the-principles-of-the-most-ancient-and-modern-philosophy/introduction/2B54419306AB329924CA4C9DC58A1F52

https://projectvox.org/conway-1631-1679/

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Achievements.

She published a groundbreaking book called Elementary Treatise of Chemistry

Her artistic capabilities helped her because she was able to document and illustrate her husbands experiments as well as publishing it

She presented the idea of conservation of mass as well as a list of elements and a new system for chemical nomenclature.

The training she had received for painting allowed her to accurately and precisely draw experimental apparatuses, which ultimately helped many people understand the methods and ideas which were used in chemistry

She was a master in the language of English, French, and Latin so she was able to translate various important works for her husband and her to work on

Education.

-received highest quality of education at the age of 3

-educated in a convent until the age of 12

-Studied several different languages

-learned how to read English and studied chemistry

-Received training from the painter Jacques Louis David

Legacy

Important to the standardization of the scientific method

Important to the 1789 publication of Lavoisier's ground breaking Elementary Treatise on Chemistry

Was able to retrieve all of Lavoiser’s notebooks and chemical apparatuses.

Translated Richard Kirwan’s essay on Phlogiston and The Constitution of acids

She drew experimental apparatuses which helped many of Lavoisier’s contemporaries to understand his methods and results

Hardship/Obstacle.

Even though she was a big help in reforming chemistry, she didn’t really get that much credit because of her husband who led most of the experiments with his partners overshadowing her help

She became bankrupt following the new governments confiscation of her money and her property

Background/Biography

-Mother and father were Jacques Paulze and Claudine Thoynet Paulze

-She was born on January 20,1758 in Montbrison, France

-She died at the age of 78 on February 10, 1836

-She had no siblings or children

-She had 2 husbands named Benjamin Thompson(first) and Antione Lavoiser(seconds)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Anne_Paulze_Lavoisier

https://www.chemistryworld.com/culture/marie-anne-paulze-lavoisier-the-invisible-assistant/4014701.article

https://www.chemistryworld.com/culture/marie-anne-paulze-lavoisier-the-invisible-assistant/4014701.article

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Birth - April 1, 1776

Death - June 27, 1831

Background -

She lived in an area where violent protests were occurring over the duration of the Revolution.

She spent a lot of time in her adolescence reading in her fathers library while her family was talking about revolution

Hardships -

Banned from entering Paris’s Revolutionary Ecole Polytechnique Education

Her parents opposed her values and philosophy, and her pursuit of happiness.

Education -

She pretended to be a boy that left the school so she could attend the university.

She submitted a memoir to the mathematician J. L. Lagrange under a male student's name.

The professor demanded to meet her because her grades improved, but in this act, she was caught. However, to her surprise, the professor took her in and wanted to help her.

Achievements -

Her works on elasticity and the vibrating plates made her the first woman to win a prize from France’s Royal Academy.

She researched the number theory, and asked for advice and help from Carl Gauss, who figured out she was a girl after 3 years, and bragged about her to his friends.

She discovered the elastic theory

She won the prize for the Paris Academy of Sciences

Legacy-

She’s known for,

Elastic theory

Number theory

Mean curvature

She was known for being a mathematician and won many awards.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sophie-Germain

https://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/germain.html

https://www.newscientist.com/people/sophie-germain/

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Annmarie Malak, Armaan Chainani, Keerthana Nuti

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Annmarie Malak, Armaan Chainani, Keerthana Nuti

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Mary Somerville

Background and Biography:

- Born December 26, 1780, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland, and died on November 29, 1872, Naples, Italy.

-Mary Fairfax was her name before marriage

-she was a British science writer who influenced many different scientific disciplines.

-Very little education, taught to read, but not write by her mother.

- Attended girls boarding school for one year at the age of 10 in Musselburgh, Scotland.

-1804, married a cousin Samuel Greig, who was the captain in the Russian Navy and the Russian Consul in London

-Samuel died in 1807

-Remarried in 1812 to another cousin, William Somerville

-1816, moved to London and met with famous people such as Sir William Herschel and Caroline Herschel, metallurgist William Hyde Wollaston, physicist Thomas Young, and mathematician Charles Babbage who showed the Somervilles the mechanical calculators he was making.

-Published her first scientific paper, on the “Magnetizing Power of the More Refrangible Solar Rays” in 1826. Published “Mechanisms of the Heavens” in 1831. Published “A Preliminary Dissertation on the Mechanisms of the Heavens” in 1832. Published “On the Connection of the Physical Sciences” in 1834. Published “Physical Geography” in 1848. Published “Molecular and Microscopic Science” in 1869.

Education:

Early on in Mary’s life when she was ten years old, her mother sent her to a very high-priced boarding school in Musselburgh.

She learned different types of writing such as rudimentary French and English grammar.

When she returned home, she was no longer interested in gardens but instead was amused by wandering around the country.

When the weather was bad, Mary instead read books in her fathers library such as Shakespeare.

When Mary’s aunt Janet came over to stay for a while, she told her mother how her reading is a waste of time and she never sews more than if she were a man.

Mary’s mother sent her to a village school that educated her on plain needle work which made her mad since she was mad that her interest in reading was disapproved and believed women deserved a desire of education.

When she was thirteen, her mother sent her to a writing school in Edinburgh where her writing skills and arithmetics were improved.

Later on where she stayed with her aunt and uncle in Burntisland, she got to read books on geometry and algebra.

When she returned back to Edinburgh, she had the ability to go to the academy of painter Alexander Nasymth which was available to ladies.

Achievements:

She was nominated to be jointly the first female member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835 which was around the time when science was discouraged for women to study.

She was elected to the American Geographical and Statistical Society in 1857 and the Italian Geographical Society in 1870.

In 1870, she won a Victoria Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society as well.

One of her well known and important publications was Physical Geography which was her most successful text and was used till the beginning of the 20th century in many schools and universities.

Hardships:

Mary's parents saw no need to provide an education for their daughter.

She educated herself from her family’s library after she came back from boarding school

Members of her family such as her aunt criticized her for spending time on this unladylike occupation

Mary was sent to a school in Burntisland where she was taught needlework that she might learn the correct skills of a young lady

Only had encouragement by her uncle

Her husband didn’t prevent her from studying but he didn’t support her

Legacy:

Mary Somerville’s work impacted many scientific disciplines and were  influenced by her work

She was able to masterfully link scientific disciplines

A year after her death, her autobiographical Personal Recollections was published.

She published many books advancing our knowledge of astronomy, physics, geography, and meteorology

Over 10,000 pages of the Somerville Collection are in the Bodleian Library and Somerville College, Oxford.

Resources

https://oxsci.org/mary-somerville-her-legacy-for-women-in-science/

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Somerville/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Somerville

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Somerville

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Somerville/#:~:text=She%20was%20elected%20to%20the,women's%20education%20and%20women's%20suffrage.