Mistress of Science The Story of the Remarkable Janet Taylor, Pioneer of Sea Navigation. /John S. Croucher

A biography of Janet Taylor (1804-1870), born Jane Ann Ionn, a gifted mathematician, astronomer, instrument maker, author and teacher of navigation. Her father, a clergyman and teacher, maintained a large library and her intelligence and mathematical skills were quickly recognised resulting in a scholarship to attend the Royal School of Embroidering Females so that she could continue her study of mathematics, astronomy and navigation. She went on to establish that the earth is spheroidal rather than spherical meaning that longitude could be established with a greater degree of accuracy and navigational instruments could be calibrated accordingly. She published a number of works on astronomy and navigation, including Luni-Solar and Horary Tables in 1833 and An Epitome of Navigation, and Nautical Astronomy with Improved Lunar Tables in 1842. Both were well received and ran to several editions. Her two nautical academies were endorsed by the Admiralty, Trinity House and the East India Company. Janet Taylor was also a recognised instrument maker, creating and calibrating chronometers, compasses, sextants and binnacles and invented and patented a mariner's calculator in 1834. She died in poverty, largely estranged from her six surviving children, with no official recognition of her achievements. The author, John Croucher, is descended from her eldest brother.