Hypatia of Alexandria: biography and contributions of this Greek philosopher.

A summary of the life of Hypatia of Alexandria and her philosophical and scientific contributions.

Hypatia of Alexandria was an illustrious woman with a great education in diverse areas such as mathematics, astronomy and philosophy, being documented as the first woman mathematician and scientist in history.

She worked as a teacher in a school in the city of Alexandria and throughout her life was dedicated to cultivating her intellect and curiosity to learn continuously, which allowed her to discover great things. She also showed political and social interest in the events of her time.

In this biography of Hypatia of Alexandria we will make a brief review of his life and his contributions to science.

Brief biography of Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia, whose name can also be written as Hypatia, was born and lived in the city of Alexandria (Egypt), between 355 and 370 AD.It is not known with certainty the year in which she was born, although most historians take as reference the year 370 as the year in which she was born.

Hypatia's father was Theon, a man of Greek origin who settled in the city of Alexandria. Theon produced numerous works related to various subjects (philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and other sciences). In addition, Hypatia's father was the last director of the Serapeum Museum, the second most important library in Alexandria and the place where Hypatia also worked as a teacher, just like her father. About Hypatia's mother, on the other hand, there is no document that speaks about her.

Thanks to her father, Hypatia was educated in an intellectual environment, with a continuous quest for learning and belonging to the Alexandrian Neoplatonic school.. Many historians agree that Hypatia was the first woman whose knowledge of mathematics and other sciences is known.

In addition, her passion for learning led her to acquire knowledge about philosophy, history of religions, principles of pedagogy and many other areas of different kinds.

Hipatia had the great luck, for the time in which she lived, to grow up with all kinds of means at her disposal that allowed her to develop her intellect from an early age and become the great scientist with a great preparation that she became.

Destruction of the Serapeo Museum

In 391, Emperor Theodosius I the Great, at the request of a patriarch named Theophilus of Alexandria, ordered the destruction of all the pagan temples in Alexandria, including the Serapeum Museum.

Thus, Theophilus and Hypatia had to move to their house all the documents that had not been destroyed in order to preserve them so that they could continue to work there and teach their students.

Hypatia of Alexandria's lifestyle

The life of Hypatia and her father, Theon, was marked by asceticism, because they followed an austere lifestyle. followed an austere lifestyle, renouncing material pleasuresThey renounced material pleasures and hedonism, so that they devoted themselves to cultivate physical, mental and spiritual perfection.

Hypatia learned from her father to cultivate her body, and not only the intellect, through a daily routine of physical exercise because they both followed the idea that "the body is not only the intellect, but also the mind. they both followed the idea that "a healthy mind in a healthy body".Plato and Plato's philosophy, so they were looking for the balance to have a clear mind and a healthy physique.

Political and social life of Hypatia

Hypatia of Alexandria was a scholarly woman, so it has been documented that she was greatly admired by most of the she was very admired by the majority of the citizens of Alexandria.It is noted that she moved around the city in a carriage and wore a white cloak, as did the philosophers.

There are also writings that relate that he was frequently present in scientific and public institutions of the city, always concerned about political and social problems, holding meetings with the municipalities and officials of the Empire.

In addition, he attended scientific conferences and debates on mathematics, philosophy and astronomy with other teachers and young people from the library or from his school.

On the other hand, his prestige also unleashed envy and indignation on the part of some citizens.Among the reasons for his assassination are the causes of his murder.

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Her trajectory as a teacher

Hipatia taught in a school for more than 20 years on different subjects (astronomy, mathematics and philosophy). (astronomy, mathematics and philosophy), reaching a greater prestige than his father, Theon; becoming the maximum intellectual influence of the city after the death of his father.

Her classes were attended by students from all over the world and most of them belonged to the aristocracy, although there were also municipalities, foreigners, scientists, civil servants, politicians and scholars, among others; therefore, Hypatia became a very famous teacher because all her students felt great admiration for her wisdom and her great virtues for teaching.

Her students were a model of diversity because they belonged to different cultures, religions, origins and ethnicities, to whom Hipatia transmitted her teachings.Hipatia transmitted to them a philosophical doctrine with an integrating Pythagorean spirit that did not divide her students by religion, ethnicity or any other aspect.

Sineo, disciple of Hypatia, wrote some documents about her in which he related that she was a woman well prepared academically and with an overwhelming personality, being corroborated by other disciples, as is the case of Socrates Scholasticism, who also confirmed what other of his disciples documented that she had a healthy and attractive appearance.

His death

Hypatia of Alexandria died assassinated by a group of fanatics for defending paganism and rationality in the year 415She was a very admired woman in her city.

However, she had to live some very complicated years because the end of the Roman Empire was approaching, so there were many social, ideological and political conflicts that caused the murder of many people in addition to Hypatia.

The 5th century historian Socrates the Scholastic, tells in one of his documents that Hypatia was murdered because of the envy and resentment that many had towards her, for being a very academically prepared person and for having different ideas from the group that murdered her.

Hypatia's legacy and contributions

Hypatia of Alexandria is considered the first woman mathematician and scientist in history.. She is a symbol of ancient science due to the fact that in stages close to her death there were no major advances in astronomy, physics and mathematics.

In the area of mathematics, Hypatia found a way to give original solutions to algebraic equations, developing a commentary to the "ArithiaShe developed a commentary to the "Arithmetic" of Diophantus of Alexandria, a mathematician admired by Hypatia.

Together with her father, she revised and republished Euclid's "Elements of Geometry", an edition that is still in use today.

On the other hand, Hypatia was in charge of developing revision commentaries on the "Almagest", the astronomical canon of Euclid's "Elements of Geometry".the astronomical canon made by Ptolemy, where he had made several observations of the stars.

It is also documented that Hypatia devoted part of her research work to study the curves resulting from the the curves resulting from making a complete cut in a cone by a plane in different positions and, more specifically, the circumference of a cone. and, more specifically, the circumference obtained at the moment when the plane is positioned perpendicular to the axis of the cone without passing through its vertex.

In addition, there are numerous sources that attribute to Hypatia of Alexandria the merit of being the inventor of the astrolabe, an instrument used to visualize the astrolabe.an instrument used to visualize the position of the planets and stars. Such an instrument was a fundamental tool at that time, being used by scientists to observe the position of the stars in the sky, being able to carry out research, and by navigators who used this device to know the course, altitude and time of day.

During her time, back in the fourth and fifth centuries, Hypatia was a very famous and admired woman and became a legend among the people of the East; however, in the West she remained forgotten, in the West, however, she remained forgotten for several centuries..

It was not until the 18th century, thanks to some writers, such as Voltaire, John Toland, Charles Kingsley and Edward Gibbon, that the life and contributions to science of Hypatia of Alexandria were rescued from the memory of the West. Thanks to writers of that time, several brushstrokes of the biography and the work of this illustrious woman could be rescued, despite the fact that most of her works could not be rescued because they disappeared when she was assassinated. because they disappeared when she was assassinated.

Several writers, when speaking about Hypatia's life, gave her a novelistic touch. On the other hand, other authors, among them Voltaire, took it upon themselves to turn her into a standard bearer against the fanaticism that prevailed in her time and into a distinguished person of feminism and also of neoplatonic philosophy.

There is no doubt that gathering information about Hypatia to elaborate a biography that relates her private and social life, as well as the contributions of this illustrious woman, has been a difficult task, because there are very few documents about her life and work, and it is suspected that the works that she made and were not destroyed were signed by other authors who appropriated them after her death.