Maria Gaetana Agnesi – 18th century mathematician
“How long will I have to do this?” must have been the thought that frequently ran through the mind of Maria Agnesi as she stood in her parlor on Friday nights. Maria Gaetana Agnesi was the oldest of...
View ArticleWomen gaining in STEM
I intended this to be a blog about women in history, as in not currently living, but I’ve already added a book review about a women currently fighting for human rights in Afghanistan and I can’t resist...
View ArticleHypatia – A Martyr for the Truth
This was inspired by the life of Hypatia, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries C.E. She was a real person and brilliant mathematician. Often she is the only woman mathematician mentioned in books...
View ArticleSonya Kovalevsky – A Marriage of Convenience
“Ask him to marry one of us? You’re crazy,” said Inez. “It’s the perfect solution”, replied Sonya’s sister Anna. “A lot of people are doing it. Women can’t study in Russia. At least the aristocracy...
View ArticleÉmilie du Châtelet – “femme savant” and paramour
Depending on where you have heard of Émilie du Châtelet you know her as a mathematician and scientist, or the paramour of Voltaire. She was both, a complex woman stimulated by intelligent conversation...
View ArticleLaura Bassi – Italian Physicist (1711 – 1778)
The entrance of women into the sciences has been a long process beginning several centuries ago. It’s not easy to find these women in the 18th century, but those that made a name for themselves did...
View ArticleMary Fairfax Somerville – Mathematics by Candlelight
“I was annoyed that my turn for reading was so much disapproved of, and thought it unjust that women should have been given a desire for knowledge if it were wrong to acquire it.” Mary Fairfax...
View ArticleAda Byron Lovelace –“Enchantress of Numbers”
Often women in the 18th and 19th centuries overcame significant odds to study mathematics or science, but as with every rule there is the exception. Ada Byron Lovelace is one of those exceptions. In...
View ArticleEmmy Noether – Original in More Ways Than One
“Fraulein Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.” ~ Albert Einstein If you ask anyone to name a famous woman...
View ArticleSophie Germain: Mathematical Genius Emerging from the French Revolution
Born on April 1, 1776 in Paris, Sophie Germain grew up during a turbulent time. She was 13 years old in 1789 when the Bastille fell and life on the streets became very dangerous. Her parents,...
View Article
