Famous Women Mathematicians - Các nhà toán học nữ nổi tiếng The field of mathematics has seen some outstanding women power. Here are some contributions of the 'geniuses' who made their mark in this intellectual field.
Women pursued mathematics, science and philosophy, early in the twentieth century. I have tried to name some and present their greatness in the paragraphs to come:
Hypatia was the first recognized women mathematician. She was born in Alexandria, Egypt, around 350AD and was a recognized scholar. Besides being a mathematician, she was an astute astronomer and a philosopher. She believed in the theories of Plato and Aristotle. An angry Christian mob killed her in, either the year 370 AD or the year 415 AD. There is still much confusion and debate on the exact year of her demise. Her immortal contributions to the mathematical world, paved the way for inexhaustible research on many topics. Her major works are as follows:
* She wrote a commentary on the 13th volume of the famous Greek mathematics text book, 'Artihmetica'.
* She edited Ptolemy's famous version of the 'Almagest'.
* She edited her father's commentary on 'Euclid's Elements'.
* She also made a commentary on a famous work on Conics by 'Apollonius'.
Maria Gaetana Agnesi
A child prodigy, an Italian linguist and a math wizard, Maria was a multi-dimensional talent. Born in a wealthy family in 1718, she was the 21st child of her parents. She had a command over half a dozen languages. She is a renowned personality in the field of mathematics. Her contributions are as follows:
* She wrote the first book introducing integral and differential calculus.
* She also wrote 'Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventu italiana'; a master piece regarded as the best extension to Euler's work.
* She wrote a treaty, which could not get published, but was greatly admired.
* She determined the equation of a peculiar curve, which came to be known as the 'Witch of Agnesi'.
Sophie was born in a wealthy upper class French family, in 1776, the year of the American Revolution. Any sort of 'brainwork' was regarded as unhealthy and dangerous for women in those times. Sophie faced a lot of problems in getting her education, due to the social taboos that existed in her society. Still, she learned mathematics and carved a niche for herself in this field. She is often called as 'The Revolutionary Mathematician'. Her accomplishments are as follows:
* Initially, she worked on number theories and gave many an interesting theorems on prime numbers. She even discovered new identities. Many such numbers are now called as "Sophie Germain primes".
* Her work on 'Fermat's Last theorem' was a path-breaking one.
* She was the first woman to attend both 'Academie des Science' and an 'Institut de France' session.
Ada was the daughter of the famous poet, 'Lord Byron'. Born on 10th December, 1815 in Britain, she is designated as the 'first programmer' of the world. She laid the foundation for the massive world of software and computers. In 1980, the computer programming language "Ada" was named after her. Her works are as follows:
* She is chiefly recognized to have written the symbols and codes according to the rules, for Charles Babbage's early mechanical computer, 'the analytical engine'.
Born on 15th January, 1850, in Moscow, Russia, she was the first major female Russian mathematician. She opposed her elders to pursue higher studies. She is known for the following works:
* She researched on differential equations known as 'Kovalevskaya Top'.
* She worked on the 'Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem', a very basic theorem that helps understand differential equations.
Amalie Emmy Noether
Born on 23rd March, 1882 in Germany, Amalie was a mathematician who is remembered for her revolutionary work in many fields. Albert Einstein described her as "the most important woman in mathematical history, since the higher education of women began". Her works include:
* Exhaustive research on abstract algebra and theoretical physics.
* Path-breaking theories in the field of algebra.
* One of the famous theorems of physics 'Noether's Theorem', connecting conservation laws and symmetry was proposed by Noether.
These were some of the famous women mathematicians who proved their mathematical genius and undoubtedly, will always find a place in the pages of history.