5 famous female mathematicians in world history

Men often excel in calculating but many women prove their true talents in this area, especially math.

The prestigious Smithsonian magazine (USA) voted 5 famous female mathematicians in history. These people have demonstrated that there is no gender difference in subjects that are only conceived for men, typically math.

Hypatia (370 - 415), Egyptian

Hypatia is considered to be the first female mathematician in history.(Photos: famous-mathematicians.com).

Hypatia was born in Alexandria, Egypt and was considered the first female mathematician in the world. She is the daughter of Theon, an illustrious scholar and the last librarian of the famous library of Alexandria. Hypatia was educated at the highest level and studied mathematics and astronomy under the guidance of her father.

She and her father conducted commentary on classical mathematical works, translated and combined interpretation. At the same time, she also made her own commentaries and taught many students at home. Hypatia is also a philosopher and follower of New Platoism.

The talent is but Hypatia is known for her extremely tragic death. She was killed by a crowd of fanatical Christians, becoming a scapegoat in the political battle between her friend Orestes - the governor of Alexandria - and the city archbishop - Cyril.

Sophie Germain (1776 - 1831), French

Sophie Germain is a famous French mathematician.(Photo: Smithsonian).

Germain was born in Paris, the daughter of a wealthy family. Once, she walked through her father's library and stumbled across a mathematical history, which spoke of Archimedes' life.

After learning about Archimedes' death, she began studying mathematics and geometry, even learning Latin and Greek herself to read classical works.

Unable to study at the prestigious École Polytechnique school as a female, Germain used a fake name to present some of his research and sent it to Joseph Lagrange - a lecturer at the school.

When knowing that Germain was a woman, Lagrange was extremely surprised, became her advisor and introduced her to other famous mathematicians of the time.

Germain's research had many obstacles due to the lack of formal training and difficult access to data sources that male mathematicians had at the time. However, she still became the first woman to win the prize of the French Academy of Sciences for her work on elastic theory and proof of Fermat's great Theorem. Although unsuccessful, it was used as a foundation for the 20th century's mathematical works.

Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852), British

Ada Lovelace is considered the world's first computer program writer.(Photo: Corbis).

Ada Lovelace's full name is Augusta Ada Byron (Countess Lovelace), unaware of her father - the poet Lord Byron. A month after she was born, her parents divorced and her father left England.

Lovelace's mother protected her too much, wanting her to grow up was not as emotional as her father. Therefore, Lovelace was encouraged to study mathematics and science.

As an adult, Lovelace had the opportunity to meet with inventor Charles Babbage. He suggested that she translate an Italian mathematician's memoirs into the Analytical Engine made by Babbage himself. This is a machine that can perform simple calculations, programmed with punched cards and considered one of the first computers.

Not only did he complete the translation easily, Lovelace also wrote many notes about the machine, including even a method of calculating a series of Bernoulli numbers. This method is considered the first computer program in the world.

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850 - 1891), Russian

The Russian mathematician house made great strides in Mathematics.(Photo: Corbis).

Since Russian women were not allowed to attend university, Sofia Vasilyevna married a young paleontologist, Vladimir Kovalevsky, and they moved to Germany to live.

Although he did not attend college, Kovalevskaya attended private lessons and eventually received a doctorate after writing a thesis on partial differential equations, Abel integrals and Saturn's belt.

After the death of her husband, Kovalevskaya was appointed a mathematics lecturer at Stockholm University and became the first woman in the region in Europe to receive a professorship.

Later, she continued to make great strides in the field of mathematics, winning the Prix Bordin Prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 1888 and the award of the Swedish Academy the following year.

Emmy Noether (1882 - 1935), German

Emmy Noether worked with famous physicist Albert Einstein.(Photo: Smithsonian).

In 1935, when Emmy Noether had just died, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the New York Times praising her as the "greatest creative genius of mathematics since women's education was improved".

Noether has overcome many difficulties before being collaborated with famous physicist Einstein. She grew up in Germany and her math studies were delayed due to rules for women in universities.

After receiving a doctorate in abstract algebra, she could not work at universities for many years. Finally, Noether received the title of "unofficial associate professor" at Göttingen University. However, in 1933, she was banned from teaching in Göttingen because she was Jewish.

Later, Noether moved to the United States and became a lecturer and researcher at Bryn Mawr University and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey. She created many mathematical foundations for Einstein's general theory of relativity and made significant advances in algebra.