Infinite Secrets AIRING SEPTEMBER 30, 2003 Learning More Dzielska, Maria. Famous Mathematicians Hypatia of Alexandria. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University The history of mathematics spans thousands of years and touches all parts of the Press, 1996. world. Likewise, the notable mathematicians of the past and present are equally Provides a biography of Hypatia based diverse.The following are brief biographies of three mathematicians who stand out on several sources,including the letters for their contributions to the fields of geometry and calculus. of Hypatia’s student Synesius. Hypatia of Alexandria Bhaskara wrote numerous papers and Biographies of Women Mathematicians books on such topics as plane and spherical (c. A.D. 370–415 ) www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/ Born in Alexandria, trigonometry, algebra, and the mathematics women.htm of planetary motion. His most famous work, Contains biographical essays and Egypt, around A.D. 370, Siddhanta Siromani, was written in A.D. comments on woman mathematicians, Hypatia was the first 1150. It is divided into four parts: “Lilavati” including Hypatia. Also includes documented female (arithmetic), “Bijaganita” (algebra), resources for further study. mathematician. She was ✷ ✷ ✷ the daughter of Theon, “Goladhyaya” (celestial globe), and a mathematician who “Grahaganita” (mathematics of the planets). Patwardhan, K. S., S. A. Naimpally, taught at the school at the Alexandrine Like Archimedes, Bhaskara discovered and S. L. Singh. Library. She studied astronomy, astrology, several principles of what is now calculus Lilavati of Bhaskaracharya. centuries before it was invented. Also like Delhi, India:Motilal Banarsidass, 2001. and mathematics under the guidance of her Archimedes, Bhaskara was fascinated by the Explains the definitions, formulae, father.She became head of the Platonist concepts of infinity and square roots. shortcuts, and methodology used by school at Alexandria around A.D. 400. Bhaskara in his work, Lilavati. Includes Although little of Hypatia’s own work J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. literal translations of Bhaskara’s text. survives, one of her pupils, Synesius of (1923–) Cyrene, wrote numerous letters document- Bhaskara ing Hypatia’s contributions. Hypatia Born on November 23, 1923, in Chicago, www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/ Illinois, J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. first attracted Mathematicians/Bhaskara_II.html lectured in Alexandria on Plato, Aristotle, attention when he Provides a biography of Bhaskara that and other philosophers, and wrote student entered the University contains explanations and examples of editions (known as commentaries) of classic his work. works by Euclid, Diophantus, Apollonius, of Chicago to study ✷ ✷ ✷ and Ptolemy. There is some evidence that mathematics at the age she even wrote a commentary on of 13. He was the Dean, Nathaniel (editor). Archimedes’ Dimension ofthe Circle. youngest student ever African Americans in Mathematics: Like many great philosophers of the to attend the university. Dimacs Workshop June 26–28,1996. He received his bache- Contains research by African American time, Hypatia became involved in a political lor’s degree at the age of mathematicians, including J. Ernest power struggle, which led to her murder in 16, his master’s degree at the age of 17, and Wilkins,Jr., on issues related to their A.D. 415 by an angry mob. his Ph.D., in 1942, at the age of 19. involvement in mathematics. Bhaskara Since that time, he has had a remark- The Faces of Science: African (A.D. 1114–1185) able career as a mathematician, teacher, Americans in the Sciences Bhaskara (also know as Bhaskaracharya) was physicist, and engineer. Although he has ww w. p ri n c e t o n . e d u / ~ m c b r own / d i s p l a y/ born in A.D. 1114 in Vijayapura, India. faces.html written more than 80 mathematical papers After studying mathe- Profiles African American men and on such subjects as calculus and geometry, women who have contributed to the matics and astronomy, his primary focus since the mid-1940s has fields of science and engineerin g . Bhaskara went on to been the study and de velopment of atomic lead the astronomical power. observatory at Ujjain, Today, Dr. Wilkins lives in Atlanta, Key: the top mathematical Georgia, where he is currently working as center in India at that Distinguished Professor of Applied c = Children time. He remained in Mathematics and Mathematical Physics at ya = Young Adult Ujjain until his death in Clark Atlanta University. a = Adult A.D. 1185. A R C H I M E D E S HANDOUT ¥ PAGE 2 OF 6 W W W . P B S . O R G / N O VA / A R C H I M E D E S.