Hypatia of Alexandria

ancient history · mathematician · astronomy · philosopher

Mathematical genius. Hypatia wrote detailed explanations of a famous math book called the Arithmetica that had thirteen volumes and was so good that parts of it might still be used today in copies of the original book.

Star scholar. She taught philosophy and astronomy in Alexandria, a major Roman city in Egypt, and became known as a wise teacher that many people wanted to learn from.

First recorded woman. While there were other female mathematicians before her, Hypatia is the first female mathematician whose life we actually know a lot about from historical records.

Studied the heavens. She worked with important texts about the stars and planets, including ones about conic sections (the curved shapes made by cutting cones) and possibly even edited the great star catalog called the Almagest.

Neoplatonist thinker. Hypatia studied Neoplatonism, a philosophy that tried to understand the deepest nature of the universe and how everything connects together.