Category Archives: Advent 2018

Women in STEM advent calendar: Day 10 – Professor Euphemia Haynes

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This winter, we are celebrating the festive season by honouring 25 amazing women in STEM, some of which you might not know of!

Professor Euphemia Haynes

First female African-American doctor of mathematics
11 Sep 1890 – 25 Jul 1980
USA

In 1943, Euphemia Lofton Haynes was awarded her PhD in maths, aged 53. She taught in public schools in Washington, DC, for 47 years. She was the first woman to chair the DC Board of Education, where she campaigned successfully for desegregation. She also created the Division of Mathematics and Business Education at Miner Teachers College, where she was a maths professor.

For more on Professor Euphemia Haynes:

 

Day 9 – Florence Violet McKenzie OBE Day 11 – Professor Fahire Battalgazi

Women in STEM advent calendar: Day 9 – Florence Violet McKenzie OBE

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This winter, we are celebrating the festive season by honouring 25 amazing women in STEM, some of which you might not know of!

Florence Violet McKenzie OBE

Australia’s first female electrical engineer
28 Sep 1890 – 23 May 1982
Australia

Florence Violet McKenzie, née Wallace, was first Australian woman to earn an electrical engineering diploma, and the first to become a certified radio telegraphist and gain membership of the Wireless Institute of Australia. She founded the Electrical Association for Women (Australia) and the Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps, which trained 3000 female telegraphists and lead to the creation of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service.

For more on Florence McKenzie, please read the following links:

 

Day 8 – Aglaonice Day 10 – Professor Euphemia Haynes

Women in STEM advent calendar: Day 8 – Aglaonice

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This winter, we are celebrating the festive season by honouring 25 amazing women in STEM, some of which you might not know of!

Aglaonice

Astronomer
2nd or 1st Century BCE
Greece

Aglaonice was a famous astronomer who could predict lunar eclipses. Plutarch wrote that, during a total lunar eclipse, she “pretended to bewitch [the moon] and draw it down” from the sky. For these performances to convince, the moon must have become completely invisible, so she may also have understood the 11 year solar cycle which influences how dark the eclipsed moon becomes.

For more on Aglaonice:

 

Day 7 – Hildegard of Bingen Day 9 – Florence Violet McKenzie OBE

Women in STEM advent calendar: Day 7 – Hildegard of Bingen

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This winter, we are celebrating the festive season by honouring 25 amazing women in STEM, some of which you might not know of!

Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen

Natural historian
circa 1098 – 17 Sep 1179
Germany

Hildegard of Bingen was a Benedictine nun who wrote scientifically about medicine and disease, based on her experience working in her monastery’s herbal garden and infirmary. Her first book, Physica, covered the scientific and medicinal properties of various plants, animals, elements (except fire) and metals. Her second, Causae et Curae, discussed the causes and cures of diseases.

For more on Hildegard of Bingen:

 

Day 6 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi Day 8 – Aglaonice

Women in STEM advent calendar: Day 6 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi

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This winter, we are celebrating the festive season by honouring 25 amazing women in STEM, some of which you might not know of!

Advent 06 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Mathematician
16 May 1718 – 9 Jan 1799
Italy

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was the first woman to write a maths textbook. It was considered the best intro to algebra, analysis and the then new field of differential and integral calculus. In it, she discusses a cubic curve, mistranslated as the ‘Witch of Agnesi’. She was elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences, and appointed professor of maths by Pope Benedict XIV, although she chose not to serve.

For more on Maria Gaetana Agnesi:

This post originally stated that Agnesi was the first woman elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences. That was actually Laura Bassi. We regret the error. 

Day 5 – Louise Bourgeois Boursier Day 7 – Hildegard of Bingen