Female Mathematicians and their Contributions

We all know that in the olden times, women contributed more in the household works as compared to the outside works. However, there are many famous female mathematicians, whose contributions made a landmark in the mathematical history. Apart from being great mathematicians, these women also contributed in other genres and proved their excellence to the world. It is because of such women, that today women are considered to be equally capable as men in all the possible fields.

List of Some Great Female Mathematicians

Below is the list of famous (women) mathematicians who not only contributed to the world of mathematics, but also achieved great respect and admiration for their work and potential.

Hypatia of Alexandria (AD 350 to 370 - 415)
One of the first female mathematicians in history, she was a highly intelligent women who excelled in the areas of philosophy, science, and mathematics. Her father Theon Alexandricus was himself a great philosopher and among the famous mathematicians of that time. A teacher herself, Hypatia was the one who invented hydrometer and contributed several mathematical works with her father.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718 - 1799)
She was an Italian philosopher, linguistic and mathematician who wrote the first book on differential and integral calculus making her the first important female mathematician after Hypatia.

Hertha Marks Ayrton (1854 - 1923)
She was an English engineer, inventor and mathematician who was the first female member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. She invented a draftsman's device useful for dividing a line into equal parts and reducing and enlarging figures. She also solved many mathematical problems which were published in the Educational Times.

Annie Dale Biddle Andrews (1885 - 1940)
She was the first women who was honored a Ph.D. In mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Annie had written her thesis known as Constructive theory of the unicursal plane quartic by synthetic methods in 1911. In 1933, she also published a paper in the Journal of the American Mathematical Society.

Tatyana Afanasyeva (1876 - 1974)
She was a Russian mathematician known famously for her contribution in the review of the statistical mechanics and was also the author of many published papers on topics including randomness, entropy and geometry.

Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Chatelet (1706 - 1749)
She was a french physicist, author and mathematician. Emilie had published a book named Institutions de Physique in 1740 which showcased her knowledge in both science and philosophy. She also was the translator of Newton's Principia Mathematica in 1749.

Marie-Sophie Germain (1776 - 1831)
She was a Parisian born mathematician who contributed in the field of number theory and differential geometry due to her passionate interest in the same. In 1816 she also won the French Academy of Science contest in the area of vibrations on elastic surfaces. She was also bestowed an honorary degree by University of Gottengen, but sadly she died because of breast cancer before being able to receive it.

Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (1850 - 1891)
She was the first famous Russian female mathematician who contributed a lot in the field of advanced mathematics, which she started teaching herself since her teenage. Winner of The Prix Bordon award from the French Academy of Science, she was a lecturer in University of Stockholm and published many papers related to mathematics and mathematical physics.

Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace (1815 - 1852)
The daughter of the famous poet, Lord Byron, Ada is known for her contribution in the invention of the analytical engine by Charles Babbage, which was an early general purpose mechanical computer. Ada was way beyond her time in this field and believed that computers can do a lot more than calculating. The programming language Ada is named after the first female computer programmer in that era.

Julia Hall Bowman Robinson (1919 - 1985)
Known for her contribution in the field of decision problems and Hilbert's tenth problem, this American mathematician was the first female mathematician to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. During her dignified career, she was also the president of the American Mathematical Society.

Amalie Emmy Noether (1882 - 1935)
Famously known as Emmy, she was an early 20th century German mathematician who was considered to be one of the most important women in the history of mathematics according to Albert Einstein. Her contribution in the field of abstract algebra and theoretical physics were relevant to the math of 21st century and was highly honored.

Dame Mary Lucy Cartwright (1900 - 1998)
She was the first female mathematician who was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of England. She also came up with the Cartwright's theorum named after herself, which was regarding analytical function. Her career focused on function theory on which she also published more than 100 papers and won various awards and recognition that includes the Sylvester Medal of the Royal Society and the De Morgan Medal of the London Mathematical Society.

Grace Chisholm Young (1868 - 1944)
She was an English mathematician who was also the first female to receive a doctorate in any field in the Gottingen University in Germany in 1895. She also received a Gamble Prize for her valuable contribution on calculus. (1914 - 1916)

Anna Johnson Pell Wheeler (1883 - 1966)
She was a famous American mathematician known for her contribution on linear algebra in infinite dimension, which became a part of functional analysis later on. She received a Ph.D. in 1909 on her dissertation, Biorthogonal Systems of Functions with Applications to the Theory of Integral Equations.

Marjorie Lee Browne (1914 - 1979)
She was one of the first black female mathematicians to receive a doctorate honor for mathematics in 1949 in the United States. She was a notable mathematics educator and was the head of department of North Carolina Central University from 1951 - 1970. She has immensely contributed her work in the field of linear and matrix algebra. Her work also showcased simple evidences of topological properties significance and relations between classical groups.

Shafi Goldwasser (born in 1958)
The two times winner of the Gödel Prize for her contribution in theoretical computer science (1993 and 2001, respectively), this native of New York is a professor of both mathematics and computer science. She has worked magnificently in areas like complexity theory, computation number theory, cryptography and her work with zero-knowledge proofs is highly acknowledged.

The above list of female mathematicians and their contributions include only a few of the most famous women mathematicians, who made a mark in history. I hope this article helps you in realizing the fact that women too have the potential to excel in each and every sphere. These women not only are an inspiration, but are also an example for those who still live in the era of gender discrimination. Gender never stops you from achieving, it's only your attitude that decides your winning or losing.