Mary Somerville (1780-1872) was an innovative and talented science communicator, with an extraordinary (and mostly self-taught) grasp of mathematics in an era when most women had no access to formal education. As a direct result of her work, calculus was introduced to the English-speaking scientific world, the idea of physics (as a single subject containing topics such as optics, thermodynamics and astronomy) was invented, and the term "scientist" was coined. She translated many scientific texts and brought the achievements of her scientific contemporaries to a wider audience. Along with Caroline Herschel, Somerville was one of the first women members of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1835.