i am looking for information on the daughter or Eratohene.  Eratohene
was a famous librarian in ancient alexandria, egypt.  His daughter
wrote mathmatical treatices on conic sections.  What was her name? and
where can I find information so I can write a paper on her?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 06 Mar 2004 06:11 PST

Dear ormoyveien,

There is a huge problem: The only Alexandrian librarian with a name
resembling "Eratohene" was Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276-194 BC), who is
most famous for calculating the size of the Earth. However, I did not
find a single reference indicating that he had a daughter, let alone a
daughter who wroteabout conic sections.

But - and this may lead into the right direction - there was an
Alexandrian mathematician in much later times, Theon of Alexandria
(ca. 335 - ca. 405 AD). He had a daughter who is known as  the first
woman mathematician about whom we have either biographical knowledge
or knowledge of her mathematics. And, what is more: She wrote about
conic sections!

I think that you are the victim of a small misunderstanding and that,
though she lived six centuries after Eratosthenes, this woman
mathematician could be the one you have in mind. If you think the
same, please let me know and I wil try to provide you information on
her.

Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by ormoyveien-ga on 07 Mar 2004 09:45 PST

Hypatia is most likely the person I am interested in knowing more
about.  I would like enough biographical information to construct a
term paper for... literary sources would be quite helpful.

Dear ormoyveien,

To assist you in writing your term paper, I will first give you a
brief overview over the life of Hypatia, and then list several
websites where you will find more extensive information.

Hypatia was born about 370 AD. Her father was  a teacher of
mathematics and astronomy and the last director of the Library of
Alexandria in the Museion, until it was demolished by the patriarch
Theophilus on order of the emperor Theodosius in 391 AD. Raised in a
world of education, Hypatia became a neo-Platonic philosopher,
astronomer and mathematician. She was best known for her work on the
field of mathematics, primarily for her work on the ideas of conic
sections introduced by Apollonius. A number of scientific writings are
credited to her by later sources, but none have survived. Though she
did not teach at the Museion, she received and tutored students in her
home.
Being both an educated woman and a pagan in a time when when
Christianity started to dominate over the other religions finally
caused her violent death. In 415 AD, the Christian mob of Alexandria,
incited by bishop Cyril and led by monks, attacked her in the street,
stripped her and killed her with pieces of broken pottery. Later, the
mob dragged her through the streets and burned her remains.

This is, of course, only a very brief overview of what is known or
assumed about Hypatia. You will get detailed information on these
websites I found for you; they also contain literary sources:

Alexandria: "The Life of Hypatia" from Damascius' (born about 480)
"Life of Isidore", reproduced in the Byzantine encyclopedia "The Suda"
in the 10th century
http://cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-suda.html

Alexandria: "The Life of Hypatia" from Socrates Scholasticus' (c.380 -
c.450) "Ecclesiastical History"
http://cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-socrates.html

Alexandria: "The Life of Hypatia" from the "Chronicle" of John, Bishop
of Nikiu (7th century)
http://cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-john.html

"Hypatia", by Elbert Hubbard; on Howard A. Landman's home page 
http://www.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/Hubbard_1928.html

"The History Of Hypatia", by Thomas Lewis; on Howard A. Landman's home page
http://poly.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/Lewis_1721.html

"The Martyrdom of Hypatia or The Death of the Classical World", a
speech by Mangasar Magurditch Mangasarian; on Howard A. Landman's home
page
http://poly.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/Mangasarian.html

Agnes Scott College: Biographies of Women Mathematicians - Hypatia, by Ginny Adair
http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/hypatia.htm

University of St. Andrews: Hypatia of Alexandria
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hypatia.html

University of Utah: Hypatia of Alexandria
http://www.math.utah.edu/~alfeld/Hypatia.html

Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia: Hypatia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia_of_Alexandria

"The Primary Sources for the Life and Work of Hypatia of Alexandria",
by Michael A. B. Deakin; on Howard A. Landman's home page
http://poly.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/primary-sources.html

"Books on Hypatia of Alexandria", by Howard A. Landman
http://poly.polyamory.org/~howard/Hypatia/books.html

University of St. Andrews: Theon of Alexandria
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Theon.html

Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia: Theon of Alexandria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theon_of_Alexandria



Search terms used:
hypatia
://www.google.de/search?q=hypatia&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&btnG=Google+Suche
theon alexandria
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=theon+alexandria&btnG=Google+Suche
mathematician alexandria daughter conics
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=mathematician+alexandria+daughter+conics&btnG=Google+Suche


Hope this will be helpful!
Regards,
Scriptor

I found a number of references to Hypatia, for instance
http://everyschool.org/u/logan/culturalmath/africanmathematicians.htm

But her father may not have been a librarian.

Hypatia, an Egyptian by origin, lived in Alexandria around 300 AD. She
was the daughter of mathematician and philosopher Theon. As head of
the Platonist school of Alexandria, she was identified by Christians
as a pagan. As riots broke out in Alexandria between Christian and
non-Christian groups, Hypatia became the focal point of the
controversy. Because Hypatia refused to convert to Christianity she
was murdered in 415 AD by a group of Christian fanatics.

She developed ideas about conic sections and wrote commentaries on
Diophantus's Arithmetica. She also wrote in Apollonius Conics about
dividing cones into different parts by a plane. With her work in this
important book, she helped make the concepts of conics easier to
understand.

Hypatia was the first woman to have such a great impact on the
survival of early mathematics. Although all of her work is lost, the
titles and references survive to this day.

Does this help?