Royal Astronomical Society
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The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society and charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its headq
Entrance to the Royal Astronomical Society at Burlington House, London
The Royal Astronomical Society at the University of London History Day, 2016.
The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society awarded to Asaph Hall
The council room at the RAS
Mary Somerville
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Mary Somerville was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary Members of the Ro
Royal Astronomical Society
…woman so honoured; no other woman would receive it until Vera Rubin in 1996. In 1835, the Council awarded honorary membership to Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville, the first women to be so recognised. A small number of other women subsequently received honorary membership, including Anne Sheepshanks, Lady Huggins…
Portrait of Mary Somerville by Thomas Phillips, 1834
Vice-Admiral William Fairfax; Mary's father, painted in 1798
View of the City of Edinburgh by Alexander Nasmyth. Mary spent the winters in Edinburgh and attended Nasmyth's academy.
Commemorative medal of Mary Somerville