Hypatia of Alexandria was born in AD 370 and was considered for 1500 years to be the only woman scientist in history. Of course, that was not accurate, but Hypatia is the earliest woman scientist who is well documented. Most of her writings have been lost, but many references to them exist. She died violently at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire---it would be 1,000 years before there would be significant advances in science and mathematics while the Dark Ages simmered.

During Hypatia's time, the intellectual life was endangered as Christian zealots viewed math and science as evil and heretical. But Hypatia's father, Theon, a mathematician and astronomer, oversaw his daughter's education. He strived for her to become "a perfect human being," a remarkable attitude at a time when women were considered to to be less than human.

Hypatia taught mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and mechanics; she also taught the doctines of Plato and Aristotle. Her home was an intellectual center where scholars gathered to discuss scientific and philosophical questions.

As politics and religion increasingly clashed with hostilities, Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, ordered the expulsion of neoplatonists. When Hypatia refused to convert to Christianity, she was brutally murdered by fanatical monks. She was 45.

With the spread of Christianity and religious chaos, interest in astrology and mysticism replaced scientific investigation. Greek science survived in Byzantium and flourished in the Arab world. Not until the middle of the seventeeth century would science be seriously revived in the Western world.

Source: Hypatia's Heritage by Margaret Alic.