Women in Mathematics
A Brief History of Select Female Contributors to Mathematics
Mathematics and its history have been dominated by men for centuries. Even so, there are quite a few remarkable women who have made significant contributions to the study and development of mathematics.
Theano (6th century B.C.)
Theano was the wife of Pythagoras, the renowned Greek mathematician. She had an active interest in mathematics, and in Pythagoras’s work.
He established a school during his lifetime, which his wife continued to run after his death. Her contribution is considered vital in keeping the Pythagorean school of thought alive and in increasing the reach of his principles and doctrines.
She published a treatise on the ‘Golden Mean,’ among other subjects.
Hypatia (4th century B.C.)
The daughter of a mathematics teacher, Theano, Hypatia was raised in Alexandria in a very academic environment. She assisted her father in writing his academic works, including his commentary on Ptolemy's Almagest. She is believed to have written such commentaries herself as well, but not enough is known for certain, since her works were destroyed when the Arab conquerors burnt down the library of Alexandria. Most knowledge about her comes from letters written by her contemporaries, including her students.
Christians of the time equated science and learning with paganism. Hypatia’s association with science led her to a tragic death at the hands of some fanatic Christians.
Sophie Germain (1776 - 1831)
Sophie Germain was born in Paris to a wealthy merchant and his wife. Despite opposition from her parents and social norms of her time, Sophie knew she wanted to be a mathematician and taught herself the subject from her father’s books in secrecy.
The Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, which was founded for mathematical and scientific studies, did not allow women to enter. Sophie, however, was able to obtain notes for some of the courses. She acquired a special interest in Lagrange’s teachings and submitted a paper to him under a pseudonym. The paper intrigued him enough to make him want to find its author. He was impressed with her and became her mentor.
Sophie also corresponded with German mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, on her work in number theory. She used a pseudonym again, and Gauss discovered her true identity only after three years of correspondence.
Sophie never married, but she made significant contributions in the study of number theory, including the study of prime numbers of the form 2 ^ p – 1, where p is prime. These numbers were named Germain primes after her. She also proved Fermat’s Last Theorem for primes of this form.
Mary Everest Boole (1832 - 1916)
Mary Everest was born in England, but moved to France at the age of five with her family, for treatment of her father’s illness. Her uncle, George Everest, was the Surveyor General of India and was responsible for the trigonometric measurements of mountain peaks in India and Nepal, and had Mt. Everest named after him. Mary was very close to her uncle. She developed a strong interest in Mathematics under the guidance of her tutor, Monsieur Deplace.
She met George Boole through her uncle and received further mathematical tutoring from him. She also provided editorial support for his book, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought(1854). She later went on to publish significant mathematical works of her own, including Philosophy and Fun of Algebra (1909).
Sophie Germain
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