Mathematics

Mathematics as a discipline has no one common definition. Some people are mathematicians who also work in computer science. Others are also physicists. And some are theoretical thinkers, pushing our understanding of numbers, space, and shape.

Whilst these abstract concepts can often feel beyond the comprehension and understanding of many individuals, there is no denying that the impact of mathematics is felt daily by all individuals in all walks of life, from the phone in your pocket to the car you drive to the tax you pay, mathematics is the cornerstone of every discipline within and outside of science.

The role of women in mathematics has often been overlooked, but this has changed considerably over the last few decades, particularly with the more recent awarding of Fields Medals on two of the women mathematicians featured here.

the ancient and medieval world

Theano (c.600BC) - Ancient Greek Pythagorean philosopher

Pandrosion(c.300 - 360AD) - Ancient Greek Mathematician

Hypatia(c.255 - 415AD) - Ancient Egyptian Philosopher and mathematician 

16th-17th century

Catherine de Parthenay (1554 – 1631) - French Mathematician

Marie Crous (fl.1640) - French Introduced the decimal system to France

Celia Grillo Borromeo (1684 – 1777) - Italian Mathematician

18th century

Émilie du Châtelet (1706 – 1749) – French Mathematician and Physicist

Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718 – 1799) – Italian Mathematician

Marie Anne Victoire Pigeon (1724 – 1767) – French Mathematician 

Maria Angela Ardinghelli (1728 – 1825) – Italian Translator of mathematics and physics

Marie-Sophie Germain (1776 – 1831) – French Mathematician

Faustina Pignatelli (d.1785) – Italian Mathematician

19th century

Augusta Ada King (1815 – 1852) – English Mathematician

Mary Everest Boole (1832 – 1916) – English Mathematician

Elizaveta Litvinova (1845 - 1919?) – Russian Mathematician

Christine Ladd-Franklin (1847 – 1930) – American Mathematician

Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850 – 1891) – Russian Mathematician

Ellen Hayes (1851 – 1930) – American Mathematician and astronomer

Charlotte Scott (1858 – 1931) – English Mathematician 

Philippa Fawcett (1868 – 1948) – English Mathematician 

Grace Chisholm Young (1868 – 1944) – English Mathematician 

Emilie Martin (1869 – 1936) – American Mathematician 

Tatyana Ehrenfest-Afanasyeva (1876 – 1964) - Russian-Dutch Mathematician 

Florence Annie Yeldham (1877 – 1945) – English Mathematics Historian

Margarete Kahn (1880 – 1942) – German Mathematician

Emmy Noether (1882 – 1935) – German Mathematician and Theoretical Physicist

Euphemia Haynes (1890 – 1980) – American Mathematician

Dorothy Maud Wrinch (1894 – 1976) – English Mathematician and Biochemist

Cecilia Krieger (1894 – 1974) - Austro-Hungarian Mathematician 

Pelageya Polubarinova-Kochina (1899 – 1999) – Russian Mathematician 

20th century - present

Mary L. Cartwright (1900 – 1998) – English Mathematician 

Gertrude Mary Cox (1900 – 1978) – American Statistician 

Grete Hermann (1901 – 1984) – German Mathematician

Marion Cameron Gray (1902 – 1979) – Scottish Mathematician 

Mina Spiegel Rees (1902 – 1997) – American Mathematician 

Rozsa Peter (1905 – 1977) – Hungarian Mathematician 

Mary Celine Fasenmyer (1906 – 1996) – American Mathematician

Irene K. Fische r(1907 – 2009) – Austrian Mathematician

Dorothy Vaughan (1910 – 2008) – American Mathematician

Dorothy Lewis Bernstein (1914 – 1988) - American Mathematician  

Cécile DeWitt-Morette (1922 – 2017) - French Mathematician

Olga Ladyzhenskaya (1922 – 2004) - Russian Mathematician 

Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat (1923 - ) – French Mathematician and physicist

Evelyn Boyd Granville (1924 – 2023) – American Mathematician

Mary Lee Woods (1924 – 2017) – British Mathematician and computer programmer

Olga Oleinik (1925 - 2001) - Ukrainian Mathematician

Gladys West (1930 - ) – American Mathematician

Grace Alele-Williams (1932 - 2022) - Nigerian Mathematician

Etta Zuber Falconer (1933 – 2002) – American Mathematics lecturer

Evelyn Nelson (1943 - 1987) - Canadian Mathematician

Dusa McDuff (1945 - ) – British Mathematician 

Fan Chung (1949 - ) - Taiwanese-American Mathematician 

Eva Bayer-Fluckiger (1951 - ) - Hungarian-Swiss Mathematician 

Susan Mary Rees (1953 - ) – British Mathematician 

Frances Kirwan (1959 - ) – British Mathematician 

Ulrike Tillman (1962 -) – German Mathematician 

Ruth Lawrence (1971 -) - British-Israeli Mathematician 

Kathrin Bringmann (1977 -) – German Mathematician 

Maryam Mirzakhani (1977 – 2017) – Iranian Mathematician,

Maryna Viazovska (1984 - ) – Ukrainian Mathematician