by Duane Hyland
So far, in our Catholic Firsts series, we've learned about the first female recipient of a Ph.D. in computer science, Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller, and the first celebration of Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, Florida, celebrated on September 8, 1565. Today, we learn about the first woman, also a devout Catholic, ever appointed to a mathematics faculty; she is also famous for "analyzing a witch." Later, she became known as an angel. Our subject is: Maria Gaetana Agnesi.
Ms. Agnesi was born in Milan, Italy, on May 16, 1718, to a wealthy family who believed that all people, regardless of sex, should be educated. She showed prodigious ability in languages, achieving fluency in French by age five and fluency in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by her teens. But, it is her work in mathematics that most astounded people.
Although habitually shy and retiring, Maria took part in her father's salons, which brought together the most educated people of the day in Milan to their house to debate philosophical, scientific, and mathematical principles - her attendance at these meetings started at age 12, and she was known for having "mastered mathematics." Agnesi stopped attending the meetings when her mother died, as she had to take over the household. However, she continued to pursue her work in mathematics. In 1738 she wrote her most famous piece, "Analytical Institutions." Mathematicians still consider her book "the first and most complete works on finite and infinitesimal analysis." The book contains her most famous work, "The Witch of Agnesi."
The witch is a curve. The original Italian name for the curve was versiera, a word derived from the Latin vertere, meaning "to turn." Still, it was also an abbreviation for the Italian word avversiera, meaning "the wife of the devil." The translator who translated the book to English made the mistake of thinking the curve's name was the latter, changing it to "The Witch of Agnesi."
Because the curve analyzed motion, her work is still used today by scientists and mathematicians studying X-ray dispersal, a waves' movement in deep water, and in mapping topography.
Based on her work and the admiration that Pope Benedict XIV had for her and her skill, the Bologna Academy of Science granted her a diploma and placed her on its mathematics faculty, making her the first woman to serve on a mathematics faculty. Historians debate whether she actually taught or accepted the position, but the appointment was historical.
After a bit, mathematics was no longer attractive to Maria, and she left the faculty for a higher purpose - serving the poor, which had been a life-long desire. However, her father forbade her to do so because he felt it would waste her God-given talents in mathematics.
Upon her father's death, and finally free of his dictates, Agnesi devoted her remaining life to serving the poor, becoming Director of the Blue Nuns of Milan, also known as the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, Hospice Trivulzio. She joined the Order, becoming a nun, another of her life-long goals. Maria died penniless on January 9, 1799. The nuns buried her in a mass grave with the poor people she had served.
With her death, the woman most well known for her "Witch of Agnesi" became known as the "Angel of Consolation."
You can learn more about Maria at https://bit.ly/3XUqBk. To see an animation of the "Witch" that made her famous, visit https://bit.ly/3gSIyiq.
I wish everyone a blessed and joyous Christmas and a happy and peaceful
New Year!
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