THE editor is indebted to the assistance provided by Somerville College, Oxford, during the
research phase of this project. College Librarian and Archivist Ms. P. Adams was generous in
providing advice and materials. College Secretary Ms. Norma MacManaway and Ms. Anne
Wheatley provided access to College resources and accommodation and Mr. Chris Bamber
provided computer assistance. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Professor A.
Morpurgo Davies for additional direction.
The archivists, librarians and staff of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, were especially helpful
and generous in answering many questions and providing free access to the Mary Somerville
Collection and related documents. The more than 5,000 items in that Collection were sorted and
catalogued by Elizabeth Chambers Patterson beginning in 1967. That archival work culminated in
the publication in 1983 of her extraordinarily thorough Mary Somerville and the Cultivation of
Science 1815-1840, an invaluable source for students of Mary Somerville.
The brief biographical summaries contained in this work are a synthesis of materials drawn
from several sources. In addition to biographical materials published in the above-mentioned
work, the Somerville Collection, and other sources listed in the Basic Bibliography, the writer is
especially indebted to: the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, School of Mathematics and
Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland; and to Encyclopædia Britannica, and to
Britannica.com and Biography.com for online materials.
Many of my colleagues at Malaspina University College have been very supportive
throughout this project. I am especially grateful for the encouragement and interest provided by
Dr. Deborah Hearn and Dr. William Weller in the Department of Physics, Engineering and
Astronomy. I would also like to thank Mr. Ian Johnston (Department of English and Liberal
Studies), Dr. Anne Leavitt (Liberal Studies and Philosophy), Dr. John Black (Liberal Studies and
Philosophy), and Dr. Marni Stanley (English and Women’s Studies).
Lastly, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to the members of the Malaspina
University College Leave Committee for their approval and grant which enabled this project to go
forward.