Selected Topics
in History of Science
Women in science (mathematics)
DE2B03 Lecture 6
20 March 2023
Greece
Hypatia of Alexandria (?375-415)
● Daughter of Theon of Alexandria
● Interested in astronomy,
astrology, mathematics
● Known because of her death as
a martyr
Italy
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799)
● Italian, born in Bologna
● Spoke five foreign languages
(French, Latin, Greek (classical),
German, Spanish)
● Read the works of
– Pierre de Fermat (1601 or 1607/8-1665)
– René Descartes (1596-1650)
– Isaac Newton
– Marquis de L'Hospital
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799)
● Teachers: her own father, Rampinelli (the order of
Olivetans / Benedictines
● Translated a textbook for mathematics from
English into French
● 1752 – entered nunnery (monastery for women)
and ceased to be interested in science
France
Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1748)
● Full name: Gabrielle-Émilie Tonnelat de
Breteuil
● Married Marquis du Chatelet (1695)
● Friendship with:
● Voltaire (1694-1778)
● Pierre Louis Moreau Maupertius (1698-1759)
Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1748)
● Exposition of Leibniz's physics:
● Institutions de Physique (1740)
● Translation of Newton's work
Prinicipia mathematica (1769)
● (explained in French not just
translated)
Sophie Germain (1776-1831)
● Studied during nights
● 1811: work on mathematical
theory of elastic surfaces
accepted by the Academy of
Science in Paris
● A famous theorem in
mathematics: the last theorem
of Pierre Fermat --- S. G. proved
a special case
Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)
● summing up numbers from 1 to 50 (or 100) as
a school boy
● Sophie Germain corresponded with him
under the pseudonym M. Le Blanc
● Gauss supported honorary doctorate for
Sophie Germain from the French academy
● Gauss lived in Göttingen, triangulation
(cartography)
● Daniel Kehlman: Measuring the Earth
Germany
Sophia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891)
● Private teachers
● Legend: room decorated with pages of
Ostrogradski's book on mathematics
● 1869: Heidelberg
● 1871: Berlin
(studying with Karl Weierstrass)
● 1874 doctorate summa cum laude
Sophia Kovalevskaya (1850-1891)
● Could not find a job – the best
she found was teaching
mathematics at elementary
school
● 1884: travelled to Stockhool to
study with Mittag-Leffler
● Since 1889 corresponding
member of Russian academy of
science
Karl Weierstrass (1815-1897)
● Thesis supervisor
● Famous among mathematicians:
correspondence Weierstrass- Kovalevskaya
● „father of modern math. analysis“
● Students include:
– Edmund Husserl
– Mittag-Leffler
– Hermann Schwarz
– Carl Johannes Thomas
David Hilbert (1862-1943)
● Influential mathematician
● Advocation of women as members of
the scientific community: how can
gender matter in science? Why
should it?
● In 1915, invited Emmy Noether to
Göttingen (together with Felix Klein)
● Enabled EN lecture – under his name
● 1919 – habilitation officially granted
Emmy Noether (1882-1935)
● Higher educational school for females in
Erlangen, 1889-1897;Planned to become
English and French teacher there (1897)
● Father: Max Noether (Erlangen)
● Since 1900 – one of two female students
(out of 1000) at U of Erlangen; possible
since 1893; A-levels (Real G.): 1903
● Studying mathematics: Erlangen 1900-02,
Göttingen 1903-04
● Emigration 1933
England / UK
Mary Fairfax Sommerville (1780-1872)
● Translations
● Access to libraries – through her
considerate husband
● Travelled with her husband,
many friends
● Translations:
● Laplace, Mécanique céleste
● The Connection of the Physical
Sciences (1834)
William Herschel (1738-1822)
● British astronomer of German
origin – born in Hannover
● Hannover-Bath connection
Caroline Herschel (1750-1848)
● Astronomer, helped her brother
● Music performance with her
brother
● Very small
● Observations of stars
● Returned to Germany after her
brother's death
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
● Nurse, primarily
● Taught by her father
● Mathematics: J. J. Sylvester
● Influence: the work of Quételet
● Crimean War – 1854 – worked
there as a nurse, reports on
patients – observations
● 1858: member of the Royal
Statistical Society
Pie chart
Women in science
● Astronomers and mathematicians (see above)
● Physicists and chemists: Marie Curie, Mileva Maric, Lise Meitner, ...
● School education for women: late 19th
century only – secondary
schools, leading to academic education
● Women could not enter universities; those who wanted to study
chose medicine; then languages and humanities; later biology; while
mathematics and physics came last (let alone engineering, ...)
● STEM and women – false assumptions about them not being gifted