Hypatia: A Notable Woman of Science

Hypatia lived in the Egyptian city of Alexandria at the turn of the fourth century of the common era. Her father was the last director of the great Library of Alexandria and she had been able to study mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy to the extent that she was renowned as one of the greatest minds of her day, surpassing even the scholarship and reputation of her father.

She herself was murdered in 415 C.E. at about 45 years of age and her work, which included scrolls on Diophantus's "Arithmetica," Apollonius's "Conics" and Ptolemy's astronomical theories, were systematically destroyed. Her legacy was passed down through her students and helped to form the basis of modern mathematics.

She also invented early astronomical and mechanical devices such as the planar astrolabe and the hydroscope.