# data[].attributes.headline
Mary Somerville by Sahan Phadnis, Ribhav Dixit, Sahil Mathur

# data[].attributes.subject
Mary Somerville by Sahan Phadnis, Ribhav Dixit, Sahil Mathur

# data[].attributes.body
Background

Born December 26, 1780 in Jedburgh Scotland

British science writer

Dubbed the “Queen of Science”

Died in 1868 in Italy

Early Life

Grew up in poverty

Spent large chunks of time working around the house

Grew up with little to no education

Was taught to read, but not to write, by her mother

Mary educated her through her family libraries, and took an interest in mathematics

First ventures into the science world

She married her cousin Samuel Grieg in 1804, who was not fond of her love of studying mathematics

After Grieg’s passing away, she devoted herself to studying math before marrying another one of her cousins, William Somerville in, 1812

William Somerville fully supported her science interests, and was more than happy to hop from country to country in Europe

Somerville then began to study botany and geology, and moved to London to further pursue these interests

She met many famous astronomers and physicists who inspired her to publish her first appear in 1826”On the Magnetizing Power of the More Refrangible Solar Rays”

Somerville then wrote a complete book called “ Mechanism of the Heavens", which was a description of the solar system, wrote over 4 years

Astronomer Sir John Herschel loved the piece, and recommended it to a publisher

The book was a huge success, and led to Somerville being inducted into the Royal Astronomical Society

Major achievements

Wrote “On the Connection of the Physical Science” in 1837 which continued on in new editions which passed her death

Was one of the first scientists, male or female, to propose that Uranus was a planet

First woman inducted into the Royal Astronomical Society

Her next work was “Physical Geography”, published in 1848

Physical Geography was one of the most influential works, and changed the way people thought about geography

Wrote “Molecular and Microscopic Science”, over the course of 10 years

Somerville College in Oxford university is named after her

Signed the very first women's suffrage petition at the age of 87

Sources:

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

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

# data[].attributes.body
Bhavesh Rayavarapu, Ronit Bhakat, Javin Antony, Dev Amin

Background Info

- Emilie Du Chātelet was born in Paris on December 17 in the year 1706

- Married in 1725 to Marquis Florent-Claude de Châtelet-Lomont

- They had 3 children together however the second child died a year after birth

- In 1733 she met Voltaire and became friends they built a lab in her husband’s estate

- She became pregnant at the age 42 with the child of her lover Jean-François de Saint-Lambert, and gave birth on September 4th 1749

- She died on September 10th 1749, 6 days after giving birth

Obstacles

-Rejected from many academic institutions

-Rejected from other various locations like the King’s Library

-Dressed as a men to gain access to certain places

-Received less credit in many of her projects

-Had to do a lot of projects in secrecy

-Could collaborate or have people check her projects

-Had to balance her personal life with her academic life as a noblewoman.

-Had many love affairs

Achievements.

-One of her most important scientific contribution was the explanation of Newton’s concepts energy and energy conservation.

-Created a research hub in Corey, France.

-Published Institutions de Physique(The Foundations of Physics) which was seen as in the modern day a textbook for her son.

-In the second edition( Institution Physique) she supplied the meta-physical basis for Newtonian physics she had long accepted.

-One her chapters in her lost book(Eléments de la philosophie de Newton) is in the Russia’s National. Library in St. Petersburg housed among Voltaire’s papers

-Her translation is still the leading French translation of Newton’s book(Newton’s Principia).

-Was great mathematician.

-Could speak 6 languages.

-Influenced European thinkers for decades to come

Sources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emilie-du-chatelet/

APS125

https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2008/12/emilie-du-chatelet#

Physics World: https://physicsworld.com/a/emilie-du-chtelet-the-genius-without-a-beard/

# data[].attributes.body
(1776 - 1831)

Born 1776 April 1, born In Paris France

died 1831 June 27, died in Paris France

French mathematician

Full name is Marie - Sophie Germain

Backgrounds

Sophie was born during the beginning of the American Revolution

Sophie was born in a middle class family

She often disobeyed her parents and read books from her fathers library and went to extents of sneaking them at night to keep learning mathematics

Sophie has two sisters, her older sister Marie-Madeleine Germain (born 29 May 1770) and her younger sister was Angélique-Ambroise Germain (born 1779).

Achievements:

She invented the elasticity theory

She helped make the Eiffel Tower with her work on elasticity and number theory

She made important contributions to number theory

She was the first woman to win a math award from Frances academy of science

She created the concepts of Germain numbers

She proved the first case of Fermat's Last Theorem

Hardships:

She was born In a time of mass instability with the American and French Revolution happening in her time.

She lived through the Napoleonic wars.

Her parents often discouraged her study of mathematics

She had a limited access to education since she was a woman no education was there

In that era the world was controlled by men

She struggled for recognition in a male dominated society

Her work wasn’t noticed till long after her death

Sources

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

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

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

https://www.elcohetealaluna.com/sophie-germain/

https://www.gcsu.edu/sites/files/page-assets/node-808/attachments/kagele.p

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sophie-Germainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Germain

Group members

Zoya chaudhry,Anish Senthilkumar,Akshaye Pentela, Dhanvin k

Challa

# data[].attributes.headline
By: Apoorva Vutukuru, Zainub Alan, Jagruthi Rusum, and Jeslyn Rhenius

# data[].attributes.subject
By: Apoorva Vutukuru, Zainub Alan, Jagruthi Rusum, and Jeslyn Rhenius

# data[].attributes.body
Name: Maragaret Cavendish

“to write with a pen rather than to work with a needle”

Biography:

Born in 1623, dead in December of 1673

Born near Colchester, United Kingdom

Came from a wealthy family and had basic education (was taught to read and write)

Was a maid of honor to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles l

Became the Duchess of Newcastle after marriage

Wife of Royalist commander William Cavendish

Ideas:

She believed that people should learn about science by using instincts rather than devices

Said nature has a system in which they perplexedly work with one another; like a clock

Believed that gender inequality was caused by the imbalance of sexes and the lack of opportunities for women

Argued that women are more superior to men

Importance:

Prolific female author, natural philosopher, poet, scientist, and playwright of the 17th century

Wrote books about equality and philosophy under HER name (didn’t hide the fact that she’s a woman)

Introduced Panpsychism (all living things have a mind)

Achievements:

She wrote many books while in exile

Wrote about a wide variety of topics

Most of her works are about natural philosophy

Seen as a controversial thinker of her time, as she argued against the modern ways of science

First women to attend the Royal Society

Was known as the “first feminist scientist”

Hardships:

Not many people bothered to read her works

She wasn’t educated in math, history, or philosophy

Joined the queens court which caused her exile

Men criticized her work to be unorganized and verbose

Widely referred to as “Mad Madge” (people thought she was ridiculous)

Sources:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/margaret-cavendish/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/margaret-cavendish

https://iep.utm.edu/margaret-cavendish/

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

# data[].attributes.body
Name: Anne Conway

Background:

Born on December 14, 1631

Died on February 23, 1679 at age 48

Focused on a heavily gynocentric concerns and patterns within society

Posthumous daughter of Sir Heneage Finch and Lady Elizabeth Cradock

Was given lessons by University of Cambridge’s Henry More, who knew her brother

Anne Conway married rich, to Edward, Third Viscount Conway

Her friend Van Helmet introduced her to kabbalistic thought and Quakerism which were resultant in an alternative method of thought

Achievements:

Wrote and published a treatise of philosophy

The treatise translates to “The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy” and it was a work of Platonist metaphysics

The framework that she suggests is a hierarchy of “species” in which she established three categories; God is the highest, Christ is in the middle and it links the people

She wrote that God can communicate with its creations through a “middle nature” such as Christ as a sort of intermediary

Conway also denied the concept of hell as she argued that such an idea is immoral and unjust

In addition, her treatise framed God as perfect and the reason for existence

Legacy:

Thinking influenced Christian theologian named Origen

The philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was stated before his time by Conway

Conway’s work was anonymously published and shows how she was deeply neglected as a woman during the Enlightenment

Belief system was a theocracy which stated there was no punishment for suffering during life and believes that all will gain salvation

Philosophy is very enlightened as she opposes the thinking of Thomas Hobbes ideas of a strong authority and authoritarian monarchical government

Disagreed with Spinoza because Spinoza stated that anything good or bad is independent of human desires, but rather is a manifestation of god as in immaterial and corporal substance

Link:

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

# data[].attributes.body
Background History

Caroline Herschel was born in Hanover, Great Britain 1750.

Her mother raised her very traditionally. Making her cook clean and engage in chores that we’re very rigorous.

When her brother (William) became an organist she followed him against her mothers wishes. She trained as a soloist singer for many years.

Eventually William picked up a new passion, Astrology. Her brother strictly tutored her in Mathematics and English.

Struggles And challenges Faced

Caroline was not encouraged by her mother. When she decided to follow her brother her mother outcasted her and made her someone unwelcome in her own family.

Another challenge was that she lacked the tools and resources. To make scientific discovery tools are extremely difficult specific tools are needed. Lacking these resources can double or even triple the difficulty.

Caroline was mistreated by many in her field. Discredited just for being a woman.

Achievements

Caroline Herschel was the first woman to discover a comet. Being so well recognized she became the First Lady to receive a full scientific salary from King George III.

She performed the calculations needed to convert numbers on a dial into locations on a map. Thanks to Herschel the British catalogue was up to date.

Thanks to Herschel’s accomplishments we are able to understand astronomy and history very well. Herschel is one of the most important women in history and will continue to be.

Sources

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

https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/caroline-herschel-first-paid-female-astronomer#:~:text=Caroline%20Lucretia%20Herschel%20was%20born,than%20help%20run%20the%20household.

# data[].attributes.body
Maria Sibylla Merian

(April 2, 1647 - January 13, 1717)

Occupation:

Entomologist (one who studies insects)

Artist

Background:

Born and raised in Germany

Father’s apprentice as an artist, learning to make full-color engravings

1670 - moved to Nuremberg with her husband

Merian had 2 daughters

Soon divorced her husband to join radical Christian community

Achievements:

Merian published her first illustrated book about caterpillars, which represented an important economic issue

Set up an all female business, producing flower-painted fabric

Has plants, butterflies, and beetles named after her

Taught other women to paint and draw

Legacy:

One of the earliest European naturalists to directly document observations on insects

Provided the world with a better understanding  of insects, butterflies, and beetles

Although she was plagued by malaria, Merian published her most significant book in 1705, the lavishly illustrated Insects of Surinam, which established her international reputation

First woman to fund her own excursion without the assistance of a male

Hardships:

Had brothers who were allowed to travel around Europe for an artistic education, however she wasn’t given this freedom

Reason why she studied insects - she stayed in her backyard and observed (accessible area for her)

Developed malaria because of the environment she worked in

Her Christian community did not value education and scientific exploration

Sources:

Newscientist: Maria-Sibylla-Merian

National Museum of Women in the Arts

wams.nyhistory.org

Nehal Sen, Pia Shah, Somya Daga, Shika Surapaneni

# data[].attributes.headline
Rusna Kaur, Aurora Kollmer, Sravya Rachakonda, Vyahriti Vootla

# data[].attributes.subject
Rusna Kaur, Aurora Kollmer, Sravya Rachakonda, Vyahriti Vootla

# data[].attributes.body
Marie Paulze Lavoisier

birth: 1758

death: 1836

background/early life:

she received formal education at a christian community

got married when she was 13 to a scientist nobleman named Antione Lavoisier

they settled in Paris, and her husband created a chemistry lab

she was able to translate multiple texts from many different chemists

later life:

after her husband was executed, while losing money, she published his works and secured his legacy in the field of chemistry

she wrote many entries in notebooks explaining the methods and results of multiple chemistry experiments

drew illustrations of the procedures

when she did a translation on the Phlogiston, she convinced her (late) husband the information was incorrect, which later led to the study of combustion and the discoveries on oxygen

she helped in her husband’s book which showed a unified view of chemistry

this book was a huge progression which had a lot of new ideas, like the conservation of mass

right before her death, she collected her husband’s notebooks, which are now sitting at Cornell University

sources:

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

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