Amanda Muller October 31, 2001 Historical Sketch 3 Math Concepts MW 1050 Maria Agnesi was born in Milan, Italy on May 16, 1718. During her lifetime she accomplished quite a bit. She was the first woman in the western part of the world to be officially and accurately referred to as a Mathematician. Her largest accomplishment and publication was published when Sir Isaac Newton was still alive and his studies most likely contributed to her own. Nevertheless, Agnesi deserves recognition not only for her mathematical publications but for all she contributed to math, science, and the western world as a whole.She began her studies of mathematics a very early age. In fact, she began studying all subject matters at the tender age of four years old. This was due to many factors. For one, her father, Pietro Agnesi and mother, Anna Brivio were learned people. Pietro was a professor at the University of Bologna and encouraged Maria’s interest in scientific matters. He made sure she was tutored at home by a string of distinguished professors. They challenged her by having her come up with her own theses. She was then to discuss and defend them among leading scholars. She eventually gained their respect, and according to historians, their admiration as well.Mathematics was not her only strong subject matter. She was considered to be a “genius linguist”. Her native language is Italian, but by age five, Agnesi learned to speak French fluently. By the time she was nine, she was able to speak, write, and read Latin. Finally, by age eleven, she could translate Greek, German, Spanish, and even Hebrew. During her years of tutor, a scholar would ask her a question is his native tongue and she would answer him in his language--whatever that may have been. She also covered subjects such as ontology, ...
