Maria Gaetana Agnesi, 1718-1799

Maria Gaetana Agnesi WWP

Photo credit - Wikipedia

An Italian mathematician, philosopher, and humanitarian. The first woman to publish a mathematics book and the first in the Western world to receive a reputation in mathematics.



Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born in Milan, Italy, to a wealthy family. Recognized as a child prodigy, she spoke Italian and French by age five and Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, and German by eleven.

From an early age, she showed interest in mathematics and philosophy, and with her father’s encouragement, Agnesi learned with the best available tutors.

At 15, her father started hosting regular gatherings of the most educated men in Bologna, and Agnesi presented and defended a series of theses on profoundly complex philosophical questions. A compilation of 191 essays based on her discussions was published in 1738.

By then, 20 years old Agnesi, who became strongly religious, intended to join a convent, but her father refused since she was the oldest child and he wanted her to teach her siblings. Instead, he agreed that she could live in a semi-retirement form, with no social interactions, so that she could devote her time to learning mathematics.

Her father hired the monk and professor of mathematics, Ramiro Rampinelli, to tutor her; Rampinelli introduced her to the new fields of differential and integral calculus. Around that time, Agnesi wrote a commentary on the work of the Marquis de l’Hôpital, Traité antique des sections coniques, but it was never published.

In 1748, at 30, Agnesi published a two-volume book titled The Instituzioni Analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana (Analytical Institutions for the Use of Italian Youth). In this work, she discussed integral and differential calculus and defined the cubic curve, today known as the ‘witch of Agnesi.’ Her work got recognized as the finest existing introduction to the works of the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, translated into French and English, and received praise even from Pope Benedict XIV, who appointed her professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna. Even though she never served in the position, she is considered the second woman ever to be granted a professorship at a university,
Following her father’s death in 1752, Agnesi became free to devote her time to charitable work and theological studies. She worked with sick and poor people and founded several hospices. In 1783, at 65, she established a home for Milan’s elderly and moved to live there.

She died at 81 and was buried in a mass grave for the poor.

Maria AGNESI 👩‍🎓

Maria Agnesi (1718-1799) was one of the first women in the Western world to establish a reputation for her work in mathematics.

My other YouTube channels:
The Science Fiction Rock Experience ( the music show I produce):
https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceFictionRockExperience
My science and music channel::
https://www.youtube.com/@drdaviddarling
Science World (with Emrah Polat):
https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceWorld1

My website: https://www.daviddarling.info
My latest book is available here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/the-biggest-number-in-the-world/

Share:

Fun Facts

  • Her father was married three times, and she was the eldest of 21 children.
  • She dedicated her work Instituzioni Analytics to Empress Maria Theresa, who, in return, wrote her a personal letter and gifted her a diamond ring and a diamond crystal case. Pope Benedict XIV, who also admired her work, granted her a gold medal and wreath. Later, she sold all these gifts and used the money to help the less fortunate.
  • The mathematical curve 'Witch of Agnesi' received its name because of a translation error. In the English translation of her work, the phrase 'la versiera' was mistakenly rendered as 'l'aversiera,' which translates to 'the witch.'
  • The asteroid 16765 Agnesi and a crater on Venus are named in her honor.
  • A marble bust of her is located beneath the arcades of the courtyard of the Palace of Brera in Milan.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Please support us so we can publish more herstories about pioneer women.
Donate

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Please support us so we can publish more herstories about pioneer women.
Donate

Watch and Learn More



Visit Her Landmark

Maria AGNESI 👩‍🎓

Maria Agnesi (1718-1799) was one of the first women in the Western world to establish a reputation for her work in mathematics.

My other YouTube channels:
The Science Fiction Rock Experience ( the music show I produce):
https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceFictionRockExperience
My science and music channel::
https://www.youtube.com/@drdaviddarling
Science World (with Emrah Polat):
https://www.youtube.com/@ScienceWorld1

My website: https://www.daviddarling.info
My latest book is available here: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/the-biggest-number-in-the-world/
Share:
Category: Academy & Education and Science & Technology
Tags: Mathematician and Philosopher

Hidden

Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-On

To get the most out of your form, we suggest that you sync this form with an email add-on. To learn more about your email add-on options, visit the following page (https://www.gravityforms.com/the-8-best-email-plugins-for-wordpress-in-2020/). Important: Delete this tip before you publish the form.
Check out this fun, inspiring, and challenging activity about extraordinary women.
You'll also be subscribing to our monthly newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.

Shop & Support


Donate & Support
 
Our feminist project of wanderlust and equality-aspired community maps the HerStories of worldwide wonder women.
Explore the website for excellent guided tours, travel tips, unique landmarks, fun girlfriend getaways, events, and in-depth articles about gender, equality, space, and (not-told-enough) female legacy.

About the Project

 

Subscribe to
our Newsletter

Ada Lovelace WWP
Science & Technology

Ada Lovelace, 1815-1852

A mathematician, recognized as the first computer programmer.

Augusta Ada King was born in London, England, the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron with his wife, the Baroness Anne Isabella Noel Byron. Five weeks after she was born, her parents separated, and she moved with her mother to her maternal grandparents in Kirkby Mallory. Lovelace did not connect with her father until he died when she was eight years old. Growing up, her mother insisted that she studied mathematics and science, believing it would prevent her from developing a moody and unpredictable temperament like her father’s. So, from an early age, she was educated by renowned figures, such as the social reformer William Frend, the physician William King, and the astronomer and mathematician Mary Somerville. Lovelace became fascinated with numbers and engineering, designing boats and flying machines. At 17, she got introduced to Charles Babbage, a mathematician that later became known as “the father of computers.” Soon he became her mentor, and she studied advanced mathematics and helped him with his research. In the same year, she was presented at Court and became a regular and popular at aristocrat events. Two years later, she married Willia King, and when he was nominated the Earl of Lovelace, she became the Countess of Lovelace. The couple had three children. After her wedding, she continued to develop with Babbage the Analytical Engine device, an early prototype of the modern computer. In 1842, 27 years old Lovelace was asked to translate an article by the Italian Engineer Luigi Menabrea about the Analytical Engine. Her translation included an appendix note, in which she elaborated on the machine’s potential, explaining that in addition to calculating numbers, it can also create art such as music and pictures. The appendix also included a theorized engine process of instruction’s reputation, a method that is known today as Looping. Back then, her work did not get much attention, but centuries after the publication, it became recognized as the first computer algorithm, and she received the long-lost acknowledgment as the first computer programmer. Throughout her life, Lovelace developed and theorized different potential uses of the Analytical Engine. Like the mathematical model of how the brain creates thoughts and the nerves create feelings, which she called “a calculus of the nervous system.” She died at the age of 36 from uterine cancer. Share: Read more...
bell hooks WWP
Academy & Education

bell hooks, 1952-2021

Scholar, author, poet, feminist theorist, and cultural critic.

Born Gloria Jean Watkins in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, one of six children of working-class parents. She discovered her love for books from an early age and performed poetry readings in front of her church community. Educated in the segregated public school system, she was very aware of racism, and being taught by mostly black women shaped her perspective as a girl of color. After high school, she studied English at Stanford University and continued postgraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Later she completed her doctorate at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1976, at the age of 24, she began her long-life academic career. First, she taught English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Southern California, then African and Afro-American Studies at Yale, Women’s Studies at Oberlin College, and English at the City College of New York. In 1978, at 26, she published her first poetry collection titled “And There We Wept” under the name “bell hooks.” The pen name she chose is a tribute to her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. She persisted in righting the name in lowercase letters to focus the attention on her work and ideas rather than her name and personality. In 1981, she published her first book, which she had worked on since she was 19, “Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism.” In the book titled after Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, hooks explored the civil rights movement and feminist movements throughout the decades and examined how hundreds of years of racism and sexism affect Black women today. The book was recognized for its contribution to feminist thought and was named “One of the twenty most influential women’s books in the last 20 years.” Three years later, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center was published, in which hooks accused second-wave feminism of racism and argued that the privileged white women’s experiences overshadowed the opportunity for multiracial feminist solidarity. During the 1980s, hooks organized a support group for Black women named the Sisters of the Yam. The group and its name were the inspiration for her 1993 book Sisters of the Yam: Black women and self-recovery, in which she celebrated Black sisterhood. The importance of sisterhood and the call to come together from an empowering point, rather than from a victim position, became a key notion in feminist thinking. After years of exploring and highlighting various aspects of racism in feminist theories, hooks developed a more active approach to solving the problem, as can be seen in her 1995 book Killing Rage: Ending Racism, in which she suggests that rage is a source of love and strength that can lead to positive change. In 2004, at 52, hooks returned to Kentucky to serve as Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College. There, she established the bell hooks Institute in 2014 and the bell hooks Center in 2021. Over the years, hooks published more than 40 books, poem collections, scholarly articles, and five children’s books. In her work, she addressed racism, sexism, patriarchy, sexuality, and geographic influences. In her innovative approach, hooks changed common perceptions of the subjects she explored and redefined feminist theories and Women’s Studies. She died of kidney failure at the age of 69. Share: Read more...
Dorothy-Vaughan-WWP
Science & Technology

Dorothy Vaughan, 1910-2008

A mathematician and ‘human computer’, among the first African-Americans who worked and progressed at NASA, and the first African-American woman to supervise a group of staff at NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Born as Dorothy Johnson in Kansas City, Missouri. At 19, she earned a B.A. in mathematics from Wilberforce University, a black college in Ohio. Deciding to support her family during the Great Depression years, she did not proceed to higher studies in the university and worked as a math teacher. At the age of 22, she married Howard Vaughan. When she was 33 years old, Vaughan started working as a mathematician and programmer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s West Area Computing Unit – a group of African-American female mathematicians that performed manually complex computations and analyzing data for aerospace engineers. The unit’s work was essential to the success of the early US Space Program. At that time, NACA was segregated, and Vaughan and her colleagues (among them were Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson) had to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities.   At the age of 39, she got promoted to be the acting manager of the West Area Computers, and by that, became the first African-American supervisor at NACA. It took several more years until she was promoted to be the official manager. Seeing the future in computer machine, she became an expert in computer programming, teaching herself and her coworkers to program in Fortran to be prepared for the future use of computer machines. This was one of many actions to promote women in the organization. After NACA was incorporated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the segregation abolished, and Vaughan joined the new Analysis and Computation Division. She retired in 1971 after 28 years in NACANASA, well appreciated for her scientific contribution as well as for paving the way for African-Americans in the organization.   Share: Read more...
Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton-WWP
Activism & Feminism

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815-1902

A pioneer leading philosopher and activist of Women's Suffrage Movement in the USA, and women’s rights.

While raising seven children, Elizabeth Cady Stanton became a leader of the Suffrage Movement, serving as the theorist of women’s rights in the late 19th century. She described herself as a “caged lioness”, but refused to believe that women had to choose between motherhood and public activism. Stanton had a good start in life, born to a well-to-do family, enjoying the privilege of access to formal education in the days when girls were largely excluded from the lecture halls. She married abolitionist Henry Stanton, ten years her senior, and traveled with him to London for the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention. When women were not allowed to take seats, she was inspired to work for women’s rights. There she also met Lucretia Mott; later they fought together for women’s rights.   Eight years later, in 1848, she co-hosted the first Woman’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York. Stanton wrote and presented there the Declaration of Sentiments, which was an inclusive take on the Declaration of Independence. After meeting Susan B. Anthony, the two became close friends and partners in the movement: Anthony was the strategist, and Cady Stanton was the thinker and writer. She co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and edited its journal ‘The Revolution’, addressing a wide range of women’s issues in her lectures and articles, including divorce law and married women’s property rights. Her later years were focused on writing – publishing History of Woman Suffrage and the controversial Woman’s Bible, which questioned the place of women within religion. Stanton died 18 years before women gained the right to vote in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the American Constitution in 1920. Her daughter Harriot Stanton Blatch did practice her right to vote and continued her mother’s legacy as a feminist activist. Share: Read more...
View all

 

*Disclaimer: Please be aware that the information on this page is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. Learn more here.