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Hypatia: The Murdered Mathematician

Naomi Alderman's tale is the story of Hypatia, the mathematician murdered by a mob in Alexandria.

Naomi Alderman's tale is a murder mystery, the story of Hypatia, the mathematician murdered by a mob in the learned city of Alexandria, around the year 415 CE. Hypatia was a communicator of science, tackling difficult maths and teaching it to her students. This was incredibly important work. It was enough, at the time, to make her Alexandria鈥檚 pre-eminent mathematician, and probably therefore the leading mathematician in the world.

And there鈥檚 historical evidence that Hypatia made some discoveries and innovations of her own. She invented a new and more efficient method of long division. In a time before electronic calculators, the actual business of doing sums was an arduous part of engineering or astronomy, and any improvement in efficiency was very welcome.

All quite innocent science, so why did Hypatia end up being murdered by a mob? Natalie Haynes tells the inside story to Naomi Alderman. And Professor Edith Hall discusses Hypatia's legacy.

Picture: Death of Hypatia of Alexandria (c 370 CE - March 415 AD), Credit: Nastasic/Getty Images

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27 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 Aug 2018 00:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 20 Aug 2018 19:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Aug 2018 04:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Aug 2018 06:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Aug 2018 10:32GMT
  • Tue 21 Aug 2018 14:32GMT
  • Sun 26 Aug 2018 01:32GMT
  • Mon 27 Aug 2018 00:32GMT

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