Minerva Scientifica Birthday Celebration
19th November 2020
MARY MAXWELL CAMPBELL
Composer
BORN 19th November 1812, Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland
(click the blue arrow above to listen)
The Mole and the Bat was written for children and is all about these two animals travelling the world, something we can only dream of these days. The original words to this song are not compatible with 21st century attitudes – however, in transforming it into a journey of discovery, meeting women in science worldwide, I’ve kept the countries the same and as many of the original words as possible so that it’s light hearted feel remains. (apologies for the silly asides!) The Mole and the Bat Song Words
Here is the list of countries and the important women they meet:
- See if you can match their picture to their names
- Then click on their names to check if you are right and find out more about these exceptional women in science
France – Émilie du Châtelet (article by Dr Patricia Fara)
Holland – Dr Aletta Jacobs
Germany – Emmy Noether
Italy – Agnesi Sisters
Austria – Hedy Lamarr
Russia – Sofya Kovalevskaya
America – Katherine Johnson
Africa – Wangari Maathai (video)
England – Mary Anning
You can of course just make up your own verse – choose a country/town/village and a woman scientist and add your verse.
Some of you may be familiar with today’s composer MARY MAXWELL CAMPBELL through our
Podcast Series
“Women of Science & Music: 30 celebrations”.
Her music forms the signature tune, but you will only have heard a small section of the song in the podcasts. This Scottish composer is elusive, especially during lockdown, but you can see everything we know so far on the Minerva Scientifica Page and below you can listen to the whole of her “podcast” song. Mary Campbell composed the original song “March of the Cameron Men” when she was just 16. This version was adapted very slightly to become the ANTHEM OF MINERVA SCIENTIFICA (click the blue arrow below to listen)