By Rosemarie Emanuele. The story of Greek mathematician and philosopher Hypatia (an ancient woman!), who was killed in 415 AD is at least part of the inspiration for the bulletin board that stood outside the Math department for several years. It read “Do something Dangerous: Study Math”, and reflected the fact that at various times in history, knowledge of math was viewed as dangerous and illegal. Hypatia was just one of many who were persecuted for knowing and teaching math over the centuries. Indeed, the Jesuit explorer Mateo Ricci wrote home in the early 1600s that in China, it was illegal, under threat of death, to study math, unless granted permission by the emperor. The knowledge that knowing math brought with it was seen as subversive and dangerous by those in power, and was therefore sometimes forbidden by law. I found myself thinking of this recently as I learned of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a teenage girl from Pakistan who almost died in her attempts to help girls obtain an education. Read more...20 octobre 2014
Math Geek Mom: Do Something Dangerous
By Rosemarie Emanuele. The story of Greek mathematician and philosopher Hypatia (an ancient woman!), who was killed in 415 AD is at least part of the inspiration for the bulletin board that stood outside the Math department for several years. It read “Do something Dangerous: Study Math”, and reflected the fact that at various times in history, knowledge of math was viewed as dangerous and illegal. Hypatia was just one of many who were persecuted for knowing and teaching math over the centuries. Indeed, the Jesuit explorer Mateo Ricci wrote home in the early 1600s that in China, it was illegal, under threat of death, to study math, unless granted permission by the emperor. The knowledge that knowing math brought with it was seen as subversive and dangerous by those in power, and was therefore sometimes forbidden by law. I found myself thinking of this recently as I learned of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a teenage girl from Pakistan who almost died in her attempts to help girls obtain an education. Read more...
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