LMS Spitalfields History of Mathematics Meeting and Hirst Lecture 2026

Supporting lecture:

Brigitte Stenhouse (The Open University)

Learning by letters: The mathematical education of Mary Somerville (1780-1872)

Somerville’s autobiography, published posthumously in 1873, tells us much about her lifetime at the centre of a scientific network that encompassed mathematicians, physicists, mineralogists and more. However, her account gives very few details on how an 18th-century woman from a small Scottish village was able to become an accomplished mathematician, recognised throughout Europe and North America for her expertise in analytical mathematics. This is especially pertinent as Somerville lived at a time when advanced mathematical texts were often expensive, or rare, and when women were usually unable to access the universities, libraries, or learned societies where such texts could be found. Building on letter correspondence and draft solutions to puzzles published in periodicals, this talk will shine a light on Somerville's earliest studies, offering a new perspective on how mathematical knowledge spreads via social connections.

Hirst Lecture:

June Barrow-Green (The Open University)

Hilda Hudson (1881-1965) – “a very expert mathematician”

Ranked equivalent to the seventh wrangler in the 1903 Cambridge Mathematical Tripos, Hilda Hudson was born into a family rich in mathematical talent. Her father was third in the 1861 Tripos, and her brother surpassed them both as senior wrangler in 1898, while Hudson herself outperformed her sister, who ranked eighth in 1900.  Pursuing an academic  career, Hudson went on to study in  Berlin and Bryn Mawr.  A geometer by inclination, she specialised in Cremona transformations, but her talents extended beyond pure mathematics: she was a pioneer in mathematical epidemiology and made significant contributions to aeronautics during the First World War. Among the most accomplished and prominent female mathematicians of her generation, she was the first woman to deliver a talk at an International Congress of Mathematicians (1912) and the first woman to serve on the Council of the London Mathematical Society (1917).  A scholar of “high ideals and standards”, Hudson was a woman whose achievements deserve greater recognition today.