WOMEN IN PHYSICS 



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women living in Athens and the eminence which they at- 

 tained in science, philosophy and literature, we can realize 

 that the character and amount of Arete 's work as an author 

 and as a teacher have not been overestimated. 



Living in an age of prodigious mental activity, when 

 women, as well as men, were actuated by an abiding love 

 of knowledge for its own sake, there is nothing surprising 

 in finding a woman like Arete commanding the admiration 

 of her countrymen by her learning and eloquence. For 

 was not the learned and eloquent Aspasia her contempor- 

 ary? And did not Theano, the wife of Pythagoras, take 

 charge of her husband's school after his death; and does 

 not antiquity credit her with being not only a successful 

 teacher of philosophy, but also a writer of books of recog- 

 nized value? Such being the case, what is there incred- 

 ible in the statements made by ancient writers regarding 

 the literary activity of Arete, and about her eminence as a 

 teacher of science and philosophy? She was but one of 

 many of the Greek women of her age that won renown by 

 their gifts of intellect and by their contributions to the 

 educational work of their time and country. 



Better known than Arete, but probably not superior to 

 her as a teacher or writer, was the illustrious Hypatia of 

 Alexandria. She, too, like her distinguished predecessor 

 in Athens, was an instructor in natural philosophy, as well 

 as other branches of science. Of her we know more than 

 we do of the daughter of Aristippus, but even our knowl- 

 edge of the acquisitions and achievements of Hypatia is, 

 unfortunately, extremely meager. We do, however, know 

 from the historian, Socrates, and from Synesius, bishop of 

 Ptolemais, who was her pupil, that she was one of the most 

 richly dowered women of all time. Born and educated in 

 Alexandria when its schools and scholars were the most 

 celebrated in the world, she was even at an early age re- 

 garded as a marvel of learning. For, not satisfied with 

 excelling her father, Theon, in mathematics, of which he 



