Women in the 18th Century

There were very little opportunities for women in education in the eighteen century. "Women were considered to be incapable of abstraction, generalization, or the mental concentration necessary to comprehend such subjects as mathematics and the physical sciences,Ð'..."(Osen pg51). There have been women who have made significant contributions to the mathematical and science world.

The first of the five women in the eighteen century is Emilie du Chatelet. She was born on December 17, 1706. Her father, Louis Nicholas le Tonnelier, saw that she was a genius and gave her the opportunity to study many different subjects. Her true passion was math. She married at the age of nineteen to a thirty-four-year-old, Marquis du Chatelet. Her husband was the colonel of a regiment, head of an old Lorraine family. She loves the liberty of enjoying privileges that were re-served for duchesses. Her husband did not like the fact that she would not give up her passion of math. She had an affair with Voltaire, one of most intriguing and brilliant scholars of this time. They soon after the affair moved to Paris for Cirey. Cirey-sur-Blaise is the ancestral home of the du Chatelet family. It was there where she studied with Leibniz. She wrote a book called Institutions de physique, from her studies with Leibniz (Emilie). She then moved on to Newton. Algebraical Commentary was added to Newton's' book of principles of the mathematics. She also rewrote the book in French. She then studied under Pierre Louis de Maupertuis, a leading mathematicians and astronomers of the day. Maupertuis and Voltaire tried to get the French to move away from the Descartes and towards the ideas of Newton. The only problem with them moving to the new idea is that Newton's work was not in French so the French couldn't understand the new idea. Emilie was influenced to translate Newton's work of the Principia into French. She had also written a new textbook on physics. She introduced physics as a general subject and attempted to define reticular points concerning space, time, and extension. Suddenly Emilie died in the year 1749. She was one of many women whose contributions have helped shape the course of mathematics (Osen pg 47-70).

The second woman in the eighteen century is Maria Caetana Agresi. She was born on May 16, 1718. Her father was Dom Pietro Agnesi Mariami, a professor of mathematics, worked at the University of Bologna. They lived in Milan. She was the oldest of 21 children. Her education was spared at no expense. In her teens, Maria mastered mathematics. After her mother died she took over the responsibilities of the other children, because of this she never married. In 1738 she published a collection of complex essays on natural science and philosophy called Propositiones Philosophicae. She was very attached to Newton philosophy. Her most important work was Analytical Institutions. The first section of her book deals with the analysis of finite quantities. It also deals with elementary problems of maxima, minima, tangents, and inflection points. The second section discussed the analysis of infinitely small quantities. The third section is about integral calculus and gives a general discussion of the state of the knowledge. The last section deals with the inverse method of the tangents and differential equations. She is best known for the Witch of Agnesi. She wrote the equation of this curve as y= (a^2(a-x))/x, is the amplitude, or height, of the curve at the origin (Maria). "To create it graphically, start by drawing a circle. Then pick a point along the x-axis (this point is labeled 'A' in the animation) and draw a line from the origin ('O'), also seen to be the bottom of the circle, to point A. Where this crosses the circle (point 'B') determines the Y value associated with the X value you first chose. Mark a point horizontally from point B over at the X value, labeled P(x, y). Do this for a variety of X-values and you will mark out the curve known as the 'Witch of Agnesi.' Notice that the curve never quite gets down to a Y value of zero. This is called asymptotic behavior. It gets ever closer to zero but never quite reaches it, until X = infinity."(4000). after her book she was elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences. Its still not determined if she accepted the position at the Academy. After the death of her father Maria gave up on math and devoted her life to the poor and homeless. She died at the age of eighty-one in 1799(Osen pg 33-48).

The third woman in math in the eighteen century is Caroline Herschel. Caroline was born on March 16, 1750in Hanover, Germany. Her father, Isaac Herschel, was a musician for the Hanoverian guard. Her father encouraged her and her five siblings to study mathematics, French and music. Her father told her that she would never marry because she was not that pretty. She became ill at the age of ten with Typhus, because of this she never grow more than four foot three inches. After her father and mother past away she and William, her brother, moved to England. Caroline was William's maid. William became a well known musician but his heart was for astronomy. He built telescopes. He produced and sold huge quantities of fine telescopes in England. At first Caroline was not interested in what her brother was doing (Caroline). She studied accounting and how to speak English. When she was helping her neighbors with the finances,