Maria Agnesi

1) Her Biography:

Maria Gaetana Agnesi wrote the first book on both integral and differential calculus and made outstanding contributions to both math and philosophy. She was hired as a professor at the University of Bologna. She was not only a math prodigy, but she also showed herself to be a very kind and devout person who did her share to help others and uphold her beliefs.

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was born to a prosperous family on May 16, 1718, in Milan, Italy. At the University of Bologna, her father Pietro Agnesi was a math professor. Pietro Agnesi had lofty aspirations of elevating his family to the status of Milanese aristocracy. He wed Anna Fortunata Brivio, a noblewoman, to accomplish this. Being the oldest of a big family, Maria retired from public life after the death of her mother and stayed at home to take care of the household.

Early in infancy, Maria had symptoms of unusual brilliance, and she was labelled a child prodigy. She was fluent in both Italian and French before she was six. By the time Maria was eleven, she could speak Latin, German, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish fluently in addition to Italian and French. Maria was known as the “Seven Tongued Orator”. She was an intelligent little girl who contributed to the education of her younger brothers.

When she was nine years old, she composed an hour-long Latin speech that astounded some of the most esteemed brains of the day. She discussed women’s access to education right. Maria began experiencing symptoms of a disease when she was 12 years old that no one could pinpoint. However, experts suggested that her extensive reading and studying was to blame, so she was encouraged to get more exercise by dancing and riding horses. She was instructed to do everything in moderation because dancing and riding horses didn’t help and she continued to experience convulsions.

Agnesi was the oldest of 23 children, including half brothers and sisters, after her mother passed away, her father remarried again, and she was raised by him. She was essentially required to educate her siblings in addition to taking her own classes and giving performances. She was prevented from pursuing her dream of joining a convent by this very task. She was already very pious at that point. She actually wanted her father to send her to a convent, but he declined; instead, he allowed her to live in semi-retirement in an environment that was practically conventual.

Most teenagers would be too busy with school and homework at 14 to accomplish much else. However, since Agnesi was a prodigy, it is not surprising that at this time, she was already studying geometry and ballistics. By the age of 15, her father gathered a group of the smartest men in Bologna to hear what she had to say since her mind and discoveries were so astounding.

These meetings were documented, and Charles de Brosse included them in Lettres sur l’Italie. Additionally, her father’s Propositiones Philosophicae contained a record of them. In 1738, Pietro Agnesi wrote this piece, which served as a record of Maria Gaetana Agnesi’s final performance. She defended 190 theses throughout her final performance. While Agnesi was talented, it is important to note that she was also very shy and did not particularly enjoy being placed on show or being asked to speak in front of a group.

Agnesi did not seem interested in marriage at a time when most women would be married, despite the fact that philosophers thought she was rather attractive and that her family was among the richest. Since Hypatia, who lived in the fifth century A.D., Agnesi was the first significant female mathematician, according to Dirk Jan Struik. Instituzioni ad uso della gioventu italiana (Analytical Institutions for the Use of Italian Youth), which Agnesi published in Milan in 1748, is her most important work.

One of the best introductions to Euler’s works, this two-volume comprehensive study covers algebra, analysis, integral calculus, and differential calculus. Her explanation of a cubic curve gave rise to the nickname “Witch of Agnesi” since the Italian word “versiera” was mistranslated as “versicra” (witch).

After her father fell ill in 1750, Pope Benedict XIV named Agnesi a professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna. Her commentary on Traite analytique des sections coniques du marquis de l’Hopital was another work she produced. Although it was one of her most wellregarded pieces, it was never published.

She finally accomplished her long-held dream of dedicating herself to the study of religion after her father’s death in 1752. She spent time caring for the sick at the same time. She would invite them inside her house, where she had set up an emergency room. At age 80, Maria Gaetana Agnesi passed away on January 9, 1799.

2) Main Works:

Propositions of Philosophy:

Propositiones philosophicae (Propositions of Philosophy), Agnesi’s debut book, was released in 1738. This book included recaps of some of the conversations she had with her father’s intellectual friends in the form of articles.

Analytical Institutions for the Use of Italian Youth:

In this extensive book, Agnesi provided numerous examples while clearly delineating difficult concepts ranging from calculus to algebra.

Basic Principles of Analysis:

One of the first textbooks in the still-emerging subject of calculus, Agnesi’s “Basic Principles of Analysis” was published in two volumes in 1748.

3) Her Contribution in Mathematics:

Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana (1748; “Analytical Institutions for the Use of Italian Youth”), Agnesi’s most famous work, covered algebra and analysis in two enormous volumes and was known for its remarkably thorough and systematic treatment of the subject, which included relatively recent developments like integral and differential calculus.

A study of the Agnesi curve—a cubic curve with the Italian name versiera—which was mistakenly translated into English as the “Witch of Agnesi”—can be found in this literature. In its study of the Instituzioni, the French Academy of Sciences stated: “We regard it as the most thorough and best constructed treatise.” In 1750, Agnesi was named professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna by Pope Benedict XIV, who shared Agnesi’s admiration.

4) Her Contribution in Philosophy:

Agnesi’s father liked to hold events where she could demonstrate her knowledge of languages. She was a very brilliant youngster who learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and other current languages at a young age. Based on her conversations prior to these conferences, Propositiones philosophicae (“Propositions of Philosophy”), a collection of writings on natural philosophy and history, was published in 1738.

5) Her Influence:

Agnesi was a fervent supporter of the education of women and the underprivileged, and she thought mathematics and the natural sciences need to be emphasized in school curricula. She had a strong religious conviction, but she also thought that the greater picture of God’s creations needed to be considered while looking at scientific and mathematical studies.

Maria was free to follow a religious calling and focus on her second great passion—serving the impoverished, ill, and homeless—after her father passed away in 1752. She started by establishing a little hospital in her house. She eventually donated her fortune, along with the gifts the empress had given her. She was buried in a pauper’s grave when she passed away at the age of 80.

Some mathematicians are still surprised by Maria’s seeming transition from education and mathematics to a career in religion. But that made perfect sense to her. According to her, although it is vital for the mind to wonder at many realities, it is ultimately far more important for the heart to be touched by love. Humans are capable of both knowing and loving.

“Man always acts to achieve goals; the goal of the Christian is the glory of God,” she said. “I hope my studies have brought glory to God, as there were useful to others, and derived from obedience, because that was my father’s will. Now I have found better ways and means to serve God, and to be useful to others.”

Finding the equation for a particular bell-shaped curve is a mathematical challenge that English mathematician John Colson named in honor of Maria Agnesi. Colson mistook the term for “curve” in Italian for a word that sounds a lot like “witch,” and as a result, this issue and equation are still referred to as the “witch of Agnesi.”

Despite the fact that few people now are aware of Agnesi, her ground-breaking work in the history of mathematics provides an encouraging example of how gender preconceptions may be overcome. She contributed to paving the way for future generations of women in science and math. Agnesi was a math prodigy who also loved the subject, seeing in its mastery a chance to help both her fellow humans and a higher order