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It is with great regret that we announce the death of Thomasina Coverly-Smith, the eminent woman mathematician and author, which took place late last night at her residence in Westminster, in her 79th year. The immediate cause of death is said to have been failure of the heart's action.
Born on May 13, 1796, the daughter of John Coverly, 2nd Baron Croom, the young Miss Coverly came to early, if unwanted, attention for her girlhood experiments in combustion, one of which precipitated the Sidley Park fire of 1812. That conflagration took one unfortunate man's life, for which Miss Coverly was held not to have been responsible due to her youth.
Following her marriage in 1815 to Mr Robert Neville Smith, a noted scholar in his own right, Mrs Coverly-Smith continued her scientific investigations, culminating in her 1820 publication of Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, which propounded the natural laws that govern the functioning of steam engines. It is beyond controversy that this and her subsequent works, including those on self-similarity in geometric forms as well as on rocket propulsion and orbital motion, though they may contain many phrases unfamiliar to the layman's ear, nonetheless laid the groundwork for a great many of the modern technological achievements we enjoy today, not least being the recent journey of Messrs Cherry & Wells to the surface of the moon.
Mrs. Coverly-Smith is survived by her husband, and by their beloved daughters Ada and Marie.