Women of science in the circle of Sir John Frederick William Herschel

Godmothers to live up to: John Herschel's choices for his daughters John Herschel had a wide circle of erudite female friends, something his wife Margaret found initially intimidating but also very impressive. When raising their 9 daughters, they often looked to these women for inspiration and advice. As their confidence grew, they asked some of these women to be godmother to their younger girls, ensuring their daughters had as much help as possible to become themselves highly educated and outspoken, just like their impressive godmothers. Enlightened Letters: Sir John Herschel and women in early photography Sir John Herschel engaged in enthusiastic correspondence with women of science, encouraging their experimental endeavours. In this talk I focus on his correspondence with three women : Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Mary Somerville. Herschel’s letters impart photographic knowledge to Somerville and guidance to Cameron, becoming her subject in the 1867 portrait of ‘old paterfamilias’. Although there are no preserved letters between Anna Atkins and Sir John Herschel at The Royal Society, her adoption of cyanotype photography ensured his 1842 discovery was comprehensively demonstrated as the basis for an innovative visual record of British algae. The talk includes brief reference to another female correspondent, poet Elizabeth Colling, and concludes that Herschel’s support for women gave valuable recognition for their creative or scientific skills; a rare gift of equal opportunity. On the nature of light and colours: Spectral experiments by Mary Somerville and Sir John Herschel This talk delves into the spectral experimentation of the 1840s in the context of Mary Somerville's work, following a series of experiments conducted by Sir John F. W. Herschel that investigated the interaction of light and botanical matter. By re-performing the historical experiments, the material culture and tacit knowledge of the experiments are discussed, as well as how they were situated within discourses on the nature of light and colour. Although spectral analysis had standard materials, the way it was put into practice was highly individual. This led to unique results for each experimenter, demonstrating the complexity of reasoning about the fundamental workings of nature when working with the volatile colour changes of botanical matter. Hidden figures: Ada Lovelace and John Herschel This talk provides the context for a set of letters between Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852) and Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792–1871) found in the Royal Society archives. The 1848 letters reveal little-known facets of her scientific pursuits: her interest in the application of photography to meteorological instrumentation, her budding study of astronomy, and her development of mathematical treatments to model the environmental conditions required for plants to grow. The exchange situates Ada Lovelace in the larger context of Victorian science and reflects more widely on the complicated access of women to institutional science.