Overview

Even before Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) declared women to be "imperfect men" and incapable of rational thought, women in the ancient world were denied education. There were exceptions, like Hypatia of Alexandria (A.D. 370?-415), a legendary mathematician and astronomer. During the Middle Ages women were educated in convents, giving them an opportunity, however limited, for intellectual expression. Hildegard von Bingen (1099-1179), was a twelfth-century mystic, writer, and composer—but her achievements, like Hypatia's, were well outside the norm.

During the Enlightenment, Parisian noble-women presided over gatherings of scientists and thinkers in their salons, cultivating a social climate that became a driving force of progress in the Age of Reason. Throughout most of Europe, though, scholarly achievement for women remained unthinkable. A few remarkable women, however, managed to become prominent mathematicians, despite society's restrictions.

Background

During the 1700s the University of...