When Somerville's father came home, he discovered that his ten-year-old daughter could not read or write. He sent her to a boarding school. By her teenage years, Somerville had become interested in algebra. Her parents got angry. They told her not to study it - they worried that studying mathematical concepts would cause her physical and mental harm. "Mary Somerville." Scientists: Their Lives and Works, UXL, 2006. Student Resources in Context. Accessed 31 Mar. 2017.