309 research outputs found
WITCH OF AGNESI: THE TRUE STORY
No full textAbstract The recent celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, offers an opportunity to reflect on how we have understood and misunderstood her legacy to the history of mathematics. Maria Gaetana was the author of an important vernacular textbook, Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventú italiana (Milan, 1748), the first book dedicat-ed to learners of mathematics and one of the best-known women natural phi-losophers and mathematicians of her generation.
Most popularly and erroneously, Agnesi is known as the woman who discovered a cubic curve that the English mathematician John Colson, while occupying the Lucasian professorship of Mathematics, called “the witch”, leading to its mod-ern description as “the witch of Agnesi”. Colson inflicted dual infamy to Agnesi, crediting her with a result that belonged to the preceding generations of mathe-maticians, while damning her for the ages by presenting her no discovery as a product of diabolic female power. This article is dedicated to restoring the truth and giving Agnesi the right place it deserves in the history of mathematics and its teaching
Maria Gaetana Agnesi and Her Witch Curve
No full textsummary:Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) měla od malička pověst zázračného dítěte. Díky své píli a velké vůli napsala velmi dobře hodnocenou učebnici a stala se zřejmě první ženou, která publikovala matematickou knihu pod svým jménem. Proslavila se studiem křivky, která je dnes pojmenována Witch of Agnesi. Své matematické bádání sama ukončila již krátce po třicátých narozeninách. Dobrovolně se vzdala i života v hmotném bohatství, aby se mohla věnovat starým, nemocným a chudým lidem
“NON INTENDO FARMI CARICO DELLA PURITÀ DELLA LINGUA”. L’ITALIANO DELLE “INSTITUZIONI ANALITICHE” DI MARIA GAETANA AGNESI
No full textL’articolo offre uno studio linguistico delle Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana (1748) di Maria Gaetana Agnesi, al fine di valutare l’italiano impiegato alla luce delle tendenze coeve della prosa scientifica e delle riflessioni metalinguistiche dell’autrice.
“I will not take on the purity of language”. the Italian of Maria Gaetana Agnesi’s “Analytical institution”.
The article offers a linguistic study of Maria Gaetana Agnesi\u27s Analytical Institution (1748; English translation published in 1801) to assess the Italian used in the light of contemporary trends in scientific prose and the author\u27s metalinguistic reflections
Agnesi e sua bruxa: hist?ria e aplica??o
No full textA Bruxa de Agnesi, como ?cou conhecida a curva plana estudada pela matem?tica italiana
Maria Gaetana Agnesi, ? uma das raz?es que tem lhe rendido ainda um pequeno espa?o
em alguns livros de Matem?tica da atualidade. Mas, apesar de suas not?veis publica??es,
? contradit?rio que a mesma, assim como o objeto estudado por ela, tenha um m?nimo
reconhecimento. Desse modo, e instigado tamb?m pelo movimento Mulheres na Matem?tica, temos o prop?sito de dar voz a essa brilhante mulher e, para isso, centramos esta pesquisa no seguinte questionamento: ? poss?vel encontrar alguma aplica??o para a Bruxa de Agnesi? Uma vez que temos como objetivo geral compreender o esenvolvimento e o comportamento da Bruxa de Agnesi e uma de suas aplica??es. Desse modo, ansiando em atender a esse objetivo, apostamos em uma pesquisa bibliogr??ca de abordagem qualitativa, car?ter explorat?rio e natureza b?sica pura, onde foi poss?vel concluir que sim, existem algumas dessas aplica??es para a Bruxa de Agnesi, dentre elas, uma direcionada para a tem?tica de interpola??o. Entretanto, alicer?ado em outros fundamentos, como promover uma discuss?o de g?nero, objetivando desconstruir a err?nea ideia de que Matem?tica ? um ambiente masculino, abordamos um enorme contraexemplo para esse absurdo, a ?gura de Agnesi, onde investigamos a curva da Bruxa, explorando sua constru??o, equa??es e propriedades. Logo, por meio desta produ??o, conclu?mos que ela contribui em alguns aspectos. Ampliando o reconhecimento de Maria Gaetana e da Bruxa de Agnesi, ele possibilita tamb?m um contato inicial com o conceito de interpola??es, al?m de instigar outros trabalhos reconhecendo outras mulheres que foram negligenciadas na Matem?tica
Maria Gaetana Agnesi: mathematics and the making of the Catholic Enlightenment
No full text© The History of Science SocietyMaria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) was known as the author of a textbook on calculus that appeared in Milan in 1748. For the first time a woman was able to establish herself as a legitimate mathematician and publish her work. This essay reconstructs the religious and scientific culture in which the textbook originated and considers lesser-known aspects of Agnesi's life and thought. It argues that Agnesi was a principal exponent of the "Catholic Enlightenment" in Italy and that her spiritual practice, pious activity, and innovative pedagogical ideas profoundly shaped her approach to mathematics. The study suggests that the reformist culture of the Catholic Enlightenment provided the conditions that enabled a few talented women to access privileged forms of knowledge and social life; it may be one factor that accounts for the unusual presence of learned women in Italian scientific institutions during the early eighteenth century
Calculations of faith: mathematics, philosophy, and sanctity in 18th-century Italy (new work on Maria Gaetana Agnesi)
No full textAbstractThe recent publication of three books on Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799) offers an opportunity to reflect on how we have understood and misunderstood her legacy to the history of mathematics, as the author of an important vernacular textbook, Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventú italiana (Milan, 1748), and one of the best-known women natural philosophers and mathematicians of her generation. This article discusses the work of Antonella Cupillari, Franco Minonzio, and Massimo Mazzotti in relation to earlier studies of Agnesi and reflects on the current state of this subject in light of the author’s own research on Agnesi
Maria Gaetana Agnesi: mathematics and the making of the Catholic Enlightenment
No full textMaria Gaetana Agnesi (1718-1799) was known as the author of a textbook on calculus that appeared in Milan in 1748. For the first time a woman was able to establish herself as a legitimate mathematician and publish her work. This essay reconstructs the religious and scientific culture in which the textbook originated and considers lesser-known aspects of Agnesi's life and thought. It argues that Agnesi was a principal exponent of the "Catholic Enlightenment" in Italy and that her spiritual practice, pious activity, and innovative pedagogical ideas profoundly shaped her approach to mathematics. The study suggests that the reformist culture of the Catholic Enlightenment provided the conditions that enabled a few talented women to access privileged forms of knowledge and social life; it may be one factor that accounts for the unusual presence of learned women in Italian scientific institutions during the early eighteenth century
The World of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Mathematician of God
No full textShe is best known for her curve, the witch of Agnesi, which appears in almost all high school and undergraduate math books. She was a child prodigy who frequented the salon circuit, discussing mathematics, philosophy, history, and music in multiple languages. She wrote one of the first vernacular textbooks on calculus and was appointed chair of mathematics at the university in Bologna. In later years, however, she became a prominent figure within the Catholic Enlightenment, gave up the academic world, and devoted herself to the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the homeless. Indeed, the life of Maria Agnesi reveals a complex and enigmatic figure -- one of the most fascinating characters in the history of mathematics.
Using newly discovered archival documents, Massimo Mazzotti reconstructs the wide spectrum of Agnesi's social experience and examines her relationships to various traditions -- religious, political, social, and mathematical. This meticulous study shows how she and her fellow Enlightenment Catholics modified tradition in an effort to reconcile aspects of modern philosophy and science with traditional morality and theology.
Mazzotti's original and provocative investigation is also the first targeted study of the Catholic Enlightenment and its influence on modern science. He argues that Agnesi's life is the perfect lens through which we can gain a greater understanding of mid-eighteenth-century cultural trends in continental Europe
Exceptional Women in Science Education? Émilie Du Châtelet and Maria Gaetana Agnesi
No full textIn this paper the author considers the educational experiences and ideas of Émilie Du Châtelet and Maria Gaetana Agnesi, two women mathematicians, scientists and philosophers in eighteenth century Europe. By tracing their historical emergence as subjects of scientific knowledge, as well as creators of philosophy and culture, the author argues that we need to revisit the history of women’s science education and deconstruct the image of ‘the exceptional woman’. In doing so the author proposes the notion of the event as a useful theoretical lens through which we can understand women’s historical constitution as mathematicians, philosophers and scientists
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