For centuries, women have made critical contributions to science and to the field of Astronomy specifically.
At ECG we bring these women into the spotlight in an effort to offer the recognition, respect, and appreciation these Women of Science deserve for their important contributions.
Spotlight on Hypatia (355 CE— March 415, Alexandria)
Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a very turbulent era in Alexandria’s history. She is the earliest female mathematician of whose life and work reasonably detailed knowledge exists.
Hypatia was one of the most eminent mathematicians and astronomers of late antiquity. Scholars traveled from around the classical world to learn mathematics and astronomy at her school.
She was the first known female mathematician and scholar. Hypatia is known as a symbol of feminism to date. The manner of her death marked the beginning of the end for Alexandria as a center of academics.
Her philosophy was Neoplatonist and was therefore seen as “pagan” during a time of bitter religious conflict between Christians, Jews, and pagans. Her Neoplatonism was concerned with the approach to the One. The One was an underlying reality partially accessible via the human power of abstraction from the Platonic forms, themselves abstractions from the world of everyday reality. Her philosophy also led her to embrace a life of dedicated virginity.
One day when Hypatia was traveling through the city, a violent Christian mob attacked her and dragged her out of her carriage, brutally murdering her and dismembering her body.
Hypatia’s death was a turning point in the politics of Alexandria. In the wake of her murder, philosophers, Greek and Romans fled the city, and the city’s role as the center of learning declined. She was being called a ‘martyr of philosophy’.
Hypatia was one of the last great thinkers of ancient Alexandria. She was one of the first women to study and teach mathematics, astronomy and philosophy. Despite these achievements, she is mostly remembered more for her violent death. Her life is a fascinating lens through which we may view the plight of science in an era of religious and sectarian conflict.
“To rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force.”