5 Famous Female Mathematicians Who Helped To Shape History
Here are five famous female mathematicians to introduce your pupils to. In addition to these five, you might want to have a think about which other female mathematicians you would like to add to this list.
Who has inspired you in your mathematical journey?
1. Wang Zhenyi (1768–1797)
Wang Zhenyi was a Chinese Mathematician and Astronomer who lived during the Qing Dynasty. Despite being largely self-taught, Wang Zhenyi became an exceptional mathematician and astronomer who was able to explain phenomena such as lunar eclipses and equinoxes. In mathematics she worked in the field of trigonometry and wrote a book called the ‘Simple Principles of Calculation’ when she was just 24. In 1994 the International Astronomical Union named a crater on Venus after her.
2. Philippa Fawcett (1868-1948)
The student who achieves the top mark in the Cambridge University Mathematical Tripos exams is called the ‘Senior Wrangler’ – a prestigious title which is famous the world over, particularly given that many Senior Wranglers have gone on to become well-known and influential mathematicians.
In late Victorian Cambridge there was a strange situation that women were allowed to sit the Mathematical Tripos exams, but couldn’t be awarded Degrees. In 1890 the world was stunned when Philippa Garrett Fawcett gained the top mark in the Mathematical Tripos, scoring 13% higher than the second highest candidate. As a woman she could not become Senior Wrangler and was simply described as being placed ‘above the Senior Wrangler’. This achievement was so significant that it was reported globally, with the Telegraph newspaper writing: ‘There is no longer any field of learning in which the lady student does not excel’. Philippa Garrett Fawcett’s achievements did not stop there and she went on to become an important educationalist in later life.
Read more about the life of Philippa Fawcett here.
3. Katherine Johnson (1918 – 2020)
Katherine Johnson was an African-American mathematician who worked for NASA calculating the orbits of many of their most famous missions, including the Apollo Moon Landings. She worked in an age where incredibly complex calculations were done by hand, and became a highly respected member of NASA.
Her achievements were remarkable, especially given that she was working in a male dominated environment and in segregated America, where black people were not even allowed to attend the same schools as white people.
Despite these challenges, Katherine Johnson became a go to person for orbital calculations. After computers were introduced, astronaut John Glenn still asked her to personally check the calculations by hand. The incredible life of Katherine Johnson was the subject of the 2016 film ‘Hidden Figures’ (PG) and in that same year NASA named a new $30 million research facility the ‘Katherine G. Johnson Research Facility’ in her honour.
NASA’s biography of Katherine Johnson.
4. Maryam Mirzakhani (1977-2017)
In 2014 Iranian born mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani became the first female winner of the Fields Medal, which is often thought of as the Mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Remarkably her Middle School teacher had initially told her that she was not particularly good at mathematics, a prediction which was completely overturned when she went on to win two Gold Medals while competing for Iran at International Mathematical Olympiads. This was just the beginning of a brilliant mathematical career which was tragically cut short when Maryam Mirzakhani died of breast cancer aged just 40 years old. She once described herself as a ‘slow’ mathematician – a great encouragement to all those pupils who feel like others are getting to the answers before they do.
More about Maryam Mirzakhani and her work.
5. Maryna Viazovska (1984-)
If you want to name one of the world’s greatest living female mathematicians then you might choose Maryna Viazovska, a Ukrainian mathematician who recently proved the most efficient way to pack spheres in 8 dimensions. Her research earnt her the Field’s medal in 2022 and she continues her research today in her role as a Professor at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
Find out more about Maryna Viazovska in this Plus Magazine Article.
More Information
Visit the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme’s website for further information on encouraging girls’ participation in advanced maths.
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