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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Letter, from Mary Somerville to Sir John Herschel

Reference number: HS/16/340

Date: 1830

Description

Autograph letter signed by sender. Used a counter spell to keep the moon at a 'due distance.' Her previous computations were careless. Asks John Frederick William Herschel to return part of her manuscript [Mechanism of the Heavens] for corrections.

Reference number
HS/16/340
Earliest possible date
1830
Page extent
2 pages
Format
Manuscript
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Creator name

Mary Somerville

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Citation

Mary Somerville, Letter, from Mary Somerville to Sir John Herschel, 1830, HS/16/340, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_16_340/letter-from-mary-somerville-to-sir-john-herschel, accessed on 25 March 2025

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/hs_16_340/letter-from-mary-somerville-to-sir-john-herschel

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  • Herschel Letters

    This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.

    Dates: 1807 - 1875

    View collection