Hypatia

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Biography
Hypatia was the very first woman to make a large impact on mathematics. Hypatia was born around 370 A.D. She grew up in the city of Alexandria, learning most of her knowledge from her father, Theon, who was a very respected and intelligent teacher at the University of Alexandria, as well as the Museum of Alexandria. Hypatia started off by studying astronomy, astrology and science. She then became a teacher, at the University of Alexandria. However, she was seen as pagan, because she believed that science brought humans to Earth, not God. This made her unliked in the community by Christians. Despite that, many Christians were students of hers, especially after she became director of the University of Alexandria. One of her most famous students was Synesius, who she was very close with. There have been letters found between the two, which have been studied by many. The result is that many scientists believe that Hypatia helped to create the astrolabe(an instrument used in science), with Synesius, but it may have been created the century before. She also helped her father with editing many famous works in mathematics. One of her good friends, Orestes, was also a pagan. It is also thought that Orestes may have been Hypatia’s lover. Cyril was the bishop of Alexandria at the time, and he did not like Orestes, because Orestes was against the fact that Cyril made all Jewish people leave the city. Orestes was killed by followers of the bishop. Cyril also greatly disliked Hypatia, because she was pagan, the lover of Orestes, and didn’t follow the typical role of women in the society, she considered herself higher than most men. This led to the death of Hypatia, who was attacked by a mob of Christian monks, stripped, killed, had the flesh ripped off her bones, dragged through the town with body parts being scattered, and had what was left of her body burned.

Mathematical Contributions
Hypatia is thought to have made very many contributions to the field of mathematics. Unfortunately, a fire set by Arabs (who had conquered the city of Alexandria) to the library inside the Museum of Alexandria, burned all of her work. The only information that can be found about her work is from her letters with Synesius, and other references to the work she has done. It is known that she aided her father in editing many previous works, some being Theon’s commentary on Ptolemy’s Almagest, and creating a new version of Euclid’s Elements. She taught her students about many subjects, including Neoplantonism, which was a large philosophy around this time period, founded on the thoughts of Plotinus. Neoplantonism is basically the thought that there is an ultimate reality, which humans can not comprehend, but the goal of life is to reach it, which she strongly believed in. Hypatia may have been in partnership with Synesius on inventing the astrolabe, but if it was the original invented or a newer model has not been determined. The astrolabe is an instrument used in astronomy, to figure out the locations of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars. Some of the works which were burned in the fire were quoted or referenced to by following mathematicians (such as Descartes, Newton and Leibiniz) and say that she wrote papers on the planets motions and the number theory. She also edited works on the conical theory, to make them clearer and more precise for her students. Hypatia also really impacted mathematics by being the first woman mathematician, which was a really big risk for her time period, since women were thought to belong only in the house at this time. The consequence of this was one of many reasons for her murder, but she is thought to have paved the way for many women mathematicians to follow in the later years.

Sources:
Calinger, Roland S.. "Hypatia." World Book. 2006 ed. "Hypatia." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 2007. Bartleby.com. February 22, 2008 <[|http://www.bartleby.com/65/hy/Hypatia.html>.] Lewis, Jone Johnson. Hypatia-Biography of Hypatia. 2008 About.com. February 22, 2008 <[|http://womenshistory.about.com/od/hypati1/a/hypatia.htm>.] Marvin, Chris. Philosophers: Hypatia. 2000 The Window: Philosophy on the Internet. February 22, 2008 <[|http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/hypatia.html>.] O'Connor, J.J.. Hypatia Biography. 1999. February 26, 2008 <[|http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Hypatia.html>.