In this second installment on women in STEM, mention will be made of those who made contributions from the first century A.D. to the third century A.D., thus concluding the journey through the history of women scientists of the Ancient Ages.
Mary the Jewess (1st century A.D.)
Also known as Mary the Hebrew or Miriam the Prophetess, she is considered one of the world's first female alchemists, her existence is known because she was recorded by Zosimo of Panopolis, another alchemist. She is credited with the invention of an alchemical mechanism, which copied the process of distillation, which alchemists believed provided the basis for the creation of gold. This mechanism became a staple in modern chemistry laboratories. This mechanism is commonly referred to as the water bath.
Regarding Maria's life, it is believed that she opened an academy to teach alchemy, in Alexandria. Like many alchemists, Maria put a lot of effort into creating or transforming base metals from the Earth into gold. Although her apparatus was not used to obtain gold, today the distillation process is used in many industries.
Pandrosion (355-415 A.D.)
Pandrosion came from Alexandria and it is believed that she may have been a woman, if so she would have been the first woman to contribute to mathematics. She is credited with the development of a method to calculate in a numerically precise but approximate way the cube doubling problem or Delos problem. It can be said in general terms that the method is for calculating cube roots. Its solution is geometrically recursive, using three dimensions instead of a plane.
Hypatia (350-370 A.D. to 415 A.D.)
Of the women scientists of the Ancient Ages, possibly the best known is Hypatia of Alexandria. She was a Greek philosopher, astronomer and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria in Egypt. Daughter of Theon of Alexandria, she was also his disciple. She was renowned in her time as a great teacher and wise counselor. She declared herself as a pagan, but had tolerance towards Christians, even many of her students were. One of them was Synesius of Cyrene, who documented Hypatia's life as a teacher.
The end of his life was marked by an assassination, a consequence of a civil war that broke out after the death of Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria. His nephew Cyril disputed the diocese with another contender. The havoc caused by Cyril was not to the liking of Orestes, who was the Roman prefect of Alexandria and a close friend of Hypatia. During the conflict Orestes asked Hypatia for advice, because she pleased both pagans and Christians.
She had not previously been involved in the conflict and had an impeccable reputation as a wise counselor. However, Cyril and his followers tried to discredit her and devalue her good reputation. There were rumors that Hypatia was the one who prevented the reconciliation between Orestes and Cyril. It is believed that it was Cyril himself who ordered her execution, or at least he is blamed for her death because of his campaign against Hypatia.
Cleopatra the Alchemist (3rd century A.D.)
Cleopatra was a Greek alchemist, author and philosopher. She is credited as one of the four alchemists believed to have produced the philosopher's stone, as well as experimenting with practical alchemy. Some authors consider her to be the inventor of the alembic, a distilling apparatus. She is also associated with the school of alchemy previously established by Mary the Jewess.
He also tried to quantify alchemy and his experiments, worked with weights and measures.
Here is the first part Women in STEM: Middle Ages - Part I
