Mary Taylor Slow

Mary Taylor Slow (15 July 1898 – 26 May 1984) was a British physicist who worked on the theory of radio waves and the application of differential equations to physics. She was the first woman to take up the study of radio as a profession.

Early life and education Mary Taylor was born in Sheffield, England. Both her parents were schoolteachers. She was educated at Pomona Street Elementary School in Sheffield and then Sheffield High School, from which she won a Clothworker's Scholarship to Girton College, Cambridge. She studied the Natural Sciences Tripos; in 1919 she was awarded the equivalent of a first-class BA degree, and in 1920 she graduated in mathematics and natural sciences.

Career and research Taylor continued to study at Girton College under a series of research studentships. From 1922 to 1924 she was Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics at Girton. During this time she became interested in the theory of radio waves and started to conduct research under the guidance of Edward Appleton who was then assistant demonstrator in experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. both on aspects of the Appleton–Hartree equation. Taylor was a member of the London Mathematical Society and the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The couple had two daughters. Taylor worked for the publication Wireless Engineer, translating and abstracting papers relating to radio. At some point Clive Slow took up a post in the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment, and the family moved to Malvern. From this point Taylor taught mathematics in local schools including Worcester Grammar School for Girls and Lawnside School in Malvern.

She died in Malvern on 26 May 1984.