Awesome Math Girls

Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher  who is the earliest female mathematician known. Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria who himself was a famous mathematician.

Hypatia was also a popular teacher and philosopher who had a loyal following of students and general population. There is a nice write up on Hypatia available here.

The established facts of Hypatia’s life as per the link are below:

(1) She was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria.
(2) She was trained as a mathematician by her father and eventually replaced him as the leading mathematician of Alexandria and, indeed as the pre-eminent mathematician of her time.
(3) She was the last major mathematician of the Alexandrian tradition.
(4) She studied and taught neo-Platonist philosophy, and astronomy, and was generally regarded as an excellent teacher.
(5) She died a particularly grisly death, probably in 415 CE, at the hands of a Christian mob. Some say her slaughter was instigated by Saint Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria.

The 2009 movie Agora depicted Hypatia’s final years.

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