c. 370-415

Egyptian Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher

Hypatia of Alexandria was, in her prime, the leading mathematician and philosopher in Western civilization. Although she is not credited with new theorems in mathematics, Hypatia's work was crucial in preserving and explaining the work of earlier mathematicians and astronomers. For a woman of her time, Hypatia's fame and stature were unprecedented, and in recent years she has been adopted as a symbol for feminists, religious partisans, and those interested in her Egyptian heritage.

Hypatia was the daughter of Theon, the last known head of the museum at Alexandria, Egypt, an ancient center of classical learning. By the late fourth century, Alexandria was the intellectual center of the Western world, a center of Hellenic scholarship and science.

Hypatia was taught by her father and worked with him. Historians do not know whether she traveled or whether she...