Click on each name for a slightly longer biography
HYPATIA
First notable woman
in mathematics. Born 370, died 415,
Alexandria, Egypt. She symbolized learning and science, which
was largely identified by the early Christians with paganism.
She was barbarously murdered by a fanatical Christian mob.
HYPATIA
Maria GAETANA Agnesi
Italian mathematician and philosopher, the first woman in the
Western world to achieve a reputation in mathematics. The
``Agnesi curve" is named after her. Born 1718, died 1799, in
Milan, Italy.
Maria GAETANA Agnesi
Laura Maria Catarina BASSI
Child prodigy educated in mathematics, philosophy, anatomy,
natural history and languages. First woman to occupy a chair of
physics at the University of Bologna. Born 1711, died 1778, in
Bologna, Italy.
Laura Maria Catarina BASSI
Marie-Sophia GERMAIN
Although she never received formal training, Germain became an
outstanding mathematician and philosopher and developed the
theory of elasticity. Born 1776, died 1831, in Paris, France.
Marie-Sophia GERMAIN
SOFIA Kovalevskaya
Versatile mathematician whose notable contributions addressed
partial differential equations, Abelian integrals, Saturn's
rings, and the refraction of light. She studied in Goettingen
and taught in Stockholm. Born 1850 near St. Petersburg in
Russia, died 1891.
SOFIA Kovalevskaya
EMILIE du Chatelet
Emilie became enamored of languagues, philosophy, and
mathematics at an early age. Voltaire, her long-time mentor and
friend, tutored her in her studies of Leibniz and Newton. She
translated Newton's Principia into French. Born 1706 in Paris,
France; died 1749.
EMILIE du Chatelet
Ada Byron LOVELACE
Lady Lovelace met Charles Babbage and heard his ideas for a
"calculating machine" when she was 17. Her prescient thoughts
on the possible uses of such a machine included composition
of music and graphics. A software language developed by
the Department of Defense was named "Ada" in her honor.
Born 1815, died 1852, in London, England.
Ada Byron LOVELACE
Elena Cornaro PISCOPIA
Piscopia was a natural philospher during the middle ages. Her
Doctorate in Philosophy, received in 1678 from the University
of Padua, Italy, was the first doctorate granted to a woman.
Born 1646 in Venice, Italy; died 1684. The city of Padua coined
a special medal in her honor after her death.
Elena Cornaro PISCOPIA
CAROLINE Lucretia Herschel
Caroline was the sister of William Herschel, both self-educated
astronomers. She was born 1750 and died 1848 in Hanover,
Germany, but her scientific life was in Bath, England. Caroline's
discovery of a number of comets and her great astronomical catalogs
brought her great honors and renown.
CAROLINE Lucretia Herschel
MARIA Mitchell
Maria Mitchell was the first professional woman astronomer
in the US and the first woman professor of astronomy (Vassar
College). She was born in Nantucket in 1818 and died in Lynn,
MA in 1889. In 1847 she discovered a comet that made her
internationally famous. She was the first woman admitted to
the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
MARIA Mitchell
HENRIETTA Swan Leavitt
The key to unlocking the extragalactic distance scale was made
by Leavitt in 1912. She was born in Lancaster, MA in 1868 and
died in 1921. Her work is still the basis for almost all
extragalactic distance determinations done today.
HENRIETTA Swan Leavitt
AGNES Pockles
Agnes Pockels pioneered study of the physics of surface films.
In 1881, she observed the streaming of currents when salts were
put into solution and, by attaching a float to a balance,
measured the increase in surface tension. For ten years she
went on studying the properties of surfactants and surface
tension of liquid solutions in her own home. She sent her results
to the professor of physics of the University of Goettingen who
seemed not to appreciate them. Then when Lord Rayleigh began to
publish on this subject, she wrote to him about her work. The
letter was written in German. Rayleigh found it so
remarkable he asked his wife to translate it into English and
sent it to be published in Nature.
AGNES Pockles