WOMEN MATHEMATICIANS

 HYPATIA (370-415)

Born              : 350-370 AD

                       Alexandria, Province of Egypt, Eastern Roman Empire

Died              : March 415 AD

Era                : Ancient Philosophy

Region          : Western Philosophy

School           : Neoplatonism

Main Interest  :Mathematics, Astronomy

Major contributions:

Hypatia refined several scientific instruments, wrote math textbooks, and developed a more efficient long division method. Hypatia wrote a piece on Diophantus's thirteen volume Arithmetica, which contains 100 mathematical problems, whose solutions are proposed using algebra. She also wrote an article on conic sections, but these writings have been lost in the hole of time.

Hypatia also constructed an Astrolabe, which is a device used to calculate the date and time according to the positions of stars and planets. She also built a Hydrometer, a tool used to determine densities of fluids.

It is not evident that she took part in any original mathematical research. However, she assisted her father in producing a new version of Euclid’s Elements.