Heather Rossiter
As ANZAAS Victoria’s contribution to the ScienceNOW program 1998, a forum entitled Hypatia’s inheritance - opportunities in science for the 21st century woman was held in Melbourne in early May. Chaired by Pru Goward, Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women, and addressed by Margaret Wertheim, author and mathematician, the panelists were Suzanne Cory, Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute; Ian Lowe, a representative of FASTS; Jan Thomas, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education at Victoria University of Technology; and Rachel Webster, Physicist and Astronomer at the University of Melbourne.
The panel, before an audience of more than 150 people, discussed the opportunities and obstacles for women who wish to succeed in mathematics and the physical sciences. Particularly, it considered
The audience was invited to participate.
Often considered the most famous of all women scientists before the advent of Marie Curie, she was the daughter of a mathematician and astronomer at the Museum of Alexandria. After travelling widely in Greece and Italy, she became a teacher of astronomy, mathematics, mechanics and philosophy in Alexandria. Her most significant mathematical work was in algebra and conic sections. She constructed tables on the movements of heavenly bodies and designed scientific instruments including a plane astrolabe, distillation apparatus, and a hydrometer for measuring the specific gravity of liquids. She helped to popularise the writings of Diophantus and Apollonius.
Hypatia became involved in the civic politics of Alexandria and the religious arguments raging between the Patriarch of the city and the Roman Prefect of Egypt. Her refusal to convert to Christianity led to her brutal murder by fanatical monks in March AD 415.
Heather Rossiter is a scientist, writer and traveller.