One of the great figures of Italian science, Maria Gaëtana Agnesi was born and died in Milan, an Italian city under Habsburg rule. In early childhood, she demonstrated extraordinarily intellectual abilities, learning several languages, including Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

Agnesi's father, who taught mathematics at the University of Bologna, hired a university professor to tutor her in mathematics.

While still a child, Agnesi took part in learned discussions with noted intellectuals who visited her parents' home. Her knowledge encompassed various fields of science, and to any foreign visitor who was not a Latinist (the discussions were held in Latin), she spoke fluently in his language. Her brilliance as a multilingual and erudite conversationalist was matched by her fluency as a writer. When she was 17 years old, Agnesi wrote a memoir about the marquis de l'Hospital's 1687 article on conic sections. Her Propositiones philosophicae, a book of essays...