Hypatia - Ancient Genius & ”Martyr of Philosophy”

Broads You Should Know

Hypatia is widely (but incorrectly) thought to be the first female mathematician in the world and is considered to be one of the foremost intellectuals and philosophers in the entire Roman empire. So how come we don't list her name when we talk about Plato and Aristotle? Also, why does her name come up when you google search for "witches in history"?! Unfortunately, politics, as usual.

In her home of Alexandria, religious and political tensions had reached a fevered pitch, and her unique position of wise advisor ends up putting her in the crossfire between fighting parties. Unfortunately, the reason Hypatia makes the history books is because of her brutal murder at the hands of the Christian mobs. Even though her murderers tried to erase her from history, enough of her astounding work survived through the letters and journals of her students and colleagues and we now know the extent of her genius. A few historians even think that she beat Kepler to it discovering the laws of planetary motion! Though the evidence for that is slim - it's pretty cool to think about.

Hypatia's story is definitely one that you won't want to miss!!

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A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!

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Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky.

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Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye