Post · 𑐴𑐶𑐟𑐶

Ele Willoughby, PhD @minouette@spore.social · 2 weeks ago

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Another unknown birthday: Amongst the earliest recorded woman in #mathematics, Hypatia lived during the 3rd century AD in Alexandria, Egypt, which was part of the Roman Empire. She was born at some time between about 350 and 370 and died in 415 C.E. She taught philosophy, #astronomy and mathematics at a NeoPlatonist school. She believed in empiricism and natural law. 🧵1/n

#sciart #linocut #printmaking #womeninstem #geometry #histsci #astrolabe #MastoArt

My linocut portrait of Hypatia in purple holding an astrolabe up to her eye with her left arm while her right rests on geometric diagrams on sheets of paper on her table. Astrolabe and table plus diagrams are bronze in colour. I’ve shown her with curly hair piled up on her head, in a loose tunic with sash. Behind her are two Doric columns and arch.

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Ele Willoughby, PhD @minouette@spore.social · 2 weeks ago

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She was the daughter of a famous #mathematician, Theon Alexandricus (ca. 335–405), with whom she worked & published edited versions of Classical texts in mathematics. She also pursued her education in Athens & Italy before returning to Alexandria.⠀
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It is difficult to precisely specify her own contributions to math, since many documents have been lost (the Library of Alexandria 🧵2/n

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Ele Willoughby, PhD @minouette@spore.social · 2 weeks ago

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itself was destroyed) and it was the tradition of the time to write commentaries on the great texts of Classical mathematics. These were essentially edited or annotated versions, which may have included corrections and new material, but which were known by the name of the original author. Also, her work and her father’s work may be confused and conflated. This confusion of attribution is common for female scholars of the Classical world. 🧵3/n

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Ele Willoughby, PhD @minouette@spore.social · 2 weeks ago

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It is known that she wrote commentaries on 13-volume Arithmetica by Diophantus, the Conics of Apollonius, and edited Ptolemy’s Almagest and on Euclid’s Elements. I’ve alluded to these in my print; the diagrams on her table, from right to left, show conic sections, Hipparchus’ construction to calculate the distances to the Sun and Moon (which was part of Ptolemy’s Almagest), and some basic Euclidean geometry. 🧵4/5

Ele Willoughby, PhD @minouette@spore.social · 2 weeks ago

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She is also credited with a more efficient means of doing long division - which is no mean feat when you recall she was using Roman numerals!⠀
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She charted heavenly bodies. She built and instructed her pupils in the design and use of the astrolabe & likely made improvements to it. 🧵5/5

A 𑐴𑐶𑐟𑐶 (hiti) is an ancient Newah urban water feature: a stepped, sunken courtyard with waterspouts and a central pool. These are fed through a remarkable network of pipes, reservoirs, and irrigation systems drawing water from mountain springs dozens of kilometres away. Every day, hundreds of people from the neighbourhood come to draw water, bathe, and exchange news. They are a unique and precious feature of Newa urban architecture through which neighbourhoods are created.

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