MOTW - Hypatia

Mathematician of the day is Hypatia (370-415 AD)

"There was a woman in Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the Philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophies of her own time." -Socrates Scholasticus

Hypatia was the daughter of prominent Egyptian Mathematician Theon with whom she collaborated on several famous mathematical works. Since Hypatia was the daughter of an upper-class mathematician and philosopher, she received the same education as her male peers and it wasn’t long before she proved that she was a more accomplished mathematician than many, including even her father.

She is considered the first known female math teacher in history and was also known for teaching astronomy and how to use an astrolabe device to model astronomical events.

In addition to becoming a respected teacher of mathematics (which was unheard of for a woman in Egypt at the time), she also made several advancements to the field of mathematics, namely her work on conic sections and developing the concepts of ellipses, parabolas, and ellipses by dividing cones into planes.

Where would Algebra 2 and Precalculus students be without her?!