Hypatia

The Theorem That Survived the Fire

Hypatia of Alexandria was the foremost mathematician, astronomer, and Neoplatonic philosopher of her age, teaching geometry and refining instruments such as the astrolabe in the great intellectual city of late antiquity. Renowned for her learning and eloquence, she was murdered by a mob amid the religious and political strife that gripped Alexandria, and became an enduring symbol of reason against fanaticism.