WOMEN AS INSPIRERS 363 



unfortunately consigned to the flames during the French 

 Eevolution in 1793. 



No one was more interested in Viete 's mathematical re- 

 searches those researches which have rendered him so 

 famous in the history of science than was the Princess de 

 Rohan. The former pupil was the first to receive notice of 

 her distinguished master's discoveries and the first to con- 

 gratulate him on his success. 



It was to this cherished pupil, who always remained his 

 friend and benefactress, that Viete dedicated his important 

 work on mathematical analysis entitled In Artem Analyti- 

 cam Isagoge. The words of the dedication are a tribute to 

 the learning and the genius of the pupil as well as an 

 expression of the gratitude of the teacher. It reads as 

 follows : 



"It is to you especially, august daughter of Melusine, 

 that I am indebted for my proficiency in mathematics, to 

 attain which I was encouraged by your love for this sci- 

 ence, as well as your great knowledge of it, and by your 

 mastery of all other sciences, which one cannot too much 

 admire in a person of your noble lineage. ' J1 



More interesting, and at the same time more pathetic, 

 were the relations of an Italian nun, Sister Maria Celeste, 

 and the man whom Byron so happily designates as 



"The starry Galileo, with his woes." 



Sister Celeste, who was a Franciscan nun in the convent of 

 St. Matthew, in Arcetri, was the great astronomer's eldest 

 and favorite daughter. They were greatly attached to 

 * This passage from the dedication is so important that I repro- 

 duce the Latin original: "Omnino vitam, aut, si quid mihi carius 

 est, vobis autem debeo, tibi autem, o diva Melusinis, omne pre- 

 sertim Mathematicis studium, ad quod me excitavit turn tuus in earn 

 amor, turn summa artis illius, quam tenes, peritia, immo vero nun- 

 quam satis admiranda in tuo tamque regii et nobilis generis sexu 

 Encyclopaedia." Francois Viete, Inventeur de I'Algebre Moderne, 

 p. 20, par Frederic Bitter, Paris, 1895. 



