Re: Women in Science

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Mel, for the story of Hypatia. There's a bit more to it.

[i know - I intentionally omitted those bits because I did not want to inflame

any

crusading passions unnecessarily on this list or inspire too many detours into

off-topic discussions. Anyway, may your additions be received by others in the

spirit of understanding and learning. Mel Siff]

Hypatia's assignation, paid for by the Bishof of andria, marked the end of

Gnosticism

in the ancient mediterranean world. she was surely a neo-pythagorian and

neo-platonist,

and was whacked by a paid mob of stone throwers, thus ensuring the rise of the

Roman

Catholic dynasty's centric with the Bishop of Rome.

[Actually, her death was not the result of stone throwing - she was flayed

alive, with her flesh being

stripped slowly and mercilessly from her body right down to her bones with

sharp-edged tiles or

shells, so that she died in excruciating agony. Her murder was bad enough, but

the manner of her

torture and death spoke volumes about the unbelievably evil nature of various

" holy " MEN of that time.

That same mentality persisted for centuries right through the Middle Ages until

very recently and still

survives, for example, in various Middle Eastern cultures where torture,

mutilation, limb amputation

and summary execution may be meted out to anyone who crosses some or other

philosophical or cultural

divide that is the sole product of human thinking. Other more " civilised "

groups use more subtle methods

of censorship and control, but the effect is the same - suppression or

elimination of any dissenting

views which may threaten those in positions of pwer or wealth. Mel Siff]

Her death also marked the destruction of andria's library, the greatest

citadel of learning

in that time. For the longest time it was held that all the holdings of that

library were compromised.

More recent scholarship maintains a lot of those works were abscent in

circulation. nevetheless,

the policies of the roman curch and its foreign dictator pope did not succeed -

by the 12th century,

works of mediterranean classical antiquity began resurfacing in the west; such

continued

for 3 centuries.

How so? exclusively due to the major renaissance culture of that time, the world

of Islam. Muslims

believed in an ongoing process of revelation, one inclusive of the prophets of

Greece and Rome as well

of the ancient traditions of the nuclear middle east and egypt......

The real lesson from Hypatia's life and death is that of the tyrrany of

ideology. by the late 15th century,

science and the humanities both began emerging from the dogmas of the age of

faith/dark ages. The

humanities passed through while the onslaught of science was far more

challenging, resulting it being

deemed the 'scientific heresy'. Unfortunately, deals negotiated between

science and religion of that

primitive time still maintain themself in the science known as " Western Science "

while claims itself

in the best Papal sense to be " universal science "

[And evidence of " Eastern science " and Eastern philosophy shows that these have

been saintly snow white

examples of highly evolved human living and tolerance all along the way? It is

entirely misleading to

maintain that any group has always been universally " superior " to all others or

that any group has the

sole access to any special knowledge about the " nature of things " . All groups

and peoples on Earth have

shown intelligence and stupidity, goodness and evil, sense and non-sense at some

time or another. As I

have stressed on several occasions, it can be very helpful to read works on

General Semantics, as initiated

by Alfred Korzybski - this very soon can teach one the problems with allness

statements, among many

other errors in " pre-judged " and stereotypical thinking. Mel Siff]

Beware of authority...

Ken O'Neill

Tucson, Arizona

----- Original Message -----

From: Mcsiff@...

It is apt that this suggested reading on the contributions of women to

science begin with the tragic story of the lovely and intelligent Hypatia of

andria whose brains, beauty and scientific acumen really upset many men

of that time, especially some holy men who hypocritically served as Christian

priests. Even today, many men, particularly in male dominated societies,

appear to be extremely intimidated by the abilities of women who think and do

not simply serve and grovel to the needs of males.

Read the tale of Hypatia, then go to the links on women in science.

-----------------------

Hypatia

<http://hypatia.ucsd.edu/~kl/hypatia.html>

Hypatia (born 370, andria, Egypt--died. March 415 AD, andria),

Egyptian Neoplatonist philosopher who was the first notable woman in

mathematics.

The daughter of Theon, also a mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia became

the recognized head of the Neoplatonist school of philosophy at [index]

andria, and her eloquence, modesty, and beauty, combined with her

remarkable intellectual gifts, attracted a large number of pupils. Among them

was Synesius of Cyrene, afterward bishop of Ptolemais (c. 410), several of

whose letters to her are still extant.

Hypatia symbolized learning and science, which at that time in Western

history were largely identified by the early Christians with paganism. As

such, she was a focal point in the tension and riots between Christians and

non-Christians that more than once racked andria. After the accession of

Cyril to the patriarchate of andria in 412, Hypatia was barbarously

murdered by the Nitrian monks and a fanatical mob of Cyril's Christian

followers, supposedly because of her intimacy with Orestes, the city's pagan

prefect. Whatever the precise motivation for the murder, the departure soon

afterward of many scholars marked the beginning of the decline of andria

as a major centre of ancient learning........

--------------

The Life of Hypatia

http://www.cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-socrates.html

By Socrates Scholasticus, from his Ecclesiastical History

-------------------

The Life of Hypatia

http://www.cosmopolis.com/alexandria/hypatia-bio-suda.html

From Damascius's Life of Isidore, reproduced in The Suda

Translated by y

HYPATIA, daughter of Theon the geometer and philosopher of andria, was

herself a well-known philosopher. She was the wife of the philosopher

Isidorus, and she flourished under the Emperor Arcadius. Author of a

commentary on Diophantus, she also wrote a work called The Astronomical Canon

and a commentary on The Conics of Apollonius. She was torn apart by the

andrians and her body was mocked and scattered through the whole city.

This happened because of envy and her outstanding wisdom especially regarding

astronomy. Some say Cyril was responsible for this outrage; others blame the

andrians' innate ferocity and violent tendencies for they dealt with many

of their bishops in the same manner, for example and Proterius......

------------

LINKS

Women in Science:

http://crux.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/4000WS.html

Women and Modern Physics:

http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~cwp/

--------------

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

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