Maria Cunitz (1610-1664)

 

               Maria Cunitz memorial in Świdnica (Poland)

Quote:  She was called "the new Hypatia", due to her knowledge and interest in solving astronomical problems.

Place of birth: Wołów  (Poland)

Quick bio:

She spoke six languages and she was interested in math, music, history, and painting.

Despite the lack of money which did not allow her to use the proper equipment to observe the sky, she predicted the position of the planets (latitude and longitude) through calculations. 

In "Urania Propitia" she revised Kepler's work (Tabulae Rudolphinae) and integrated it with her data. She proposed a solution for the determination of the position of a planet in its orbit as a function of time.

Cunitz is considered the most notable female astronomer of the early modern era.

Learn more: Digital version of Urania Propitia 

https://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/18066%23info

Trotula de Ruggiero (1035-1097)

A drawing representing Trotula. London, Wellcome Library, MS 544 (Miscellanea medical XVIII, early 14th century)

Quote:  She was considered among her contemporaries (Middle Age): "Magistra mulier sapiens" (wise woman teacher) 

Place of birth: Salerno, Italy

Quick bio:

Trotula had the opportunity to study in the prestigious Scholae Medica Salernitana (the first European University) and she became a physician.

She wrote treatises in dermatology and gynecology and she studied methodologies to make labor less painful (i.e. by using opiates).

Her "Trotula Major" (Passionibus Mulierum Curandorum, The Diseases of Women), was used until the XIX century. The text had a huge impact on the education of doctors because it was the only book containing information about menstruation and childbirth. 

For centuries, some scholars started doubting that one woman was the author of such fundamental books for modern medicine. All of their assertions were then disproved. 

The Trotula texts

                              

Learn more:

https://www.amazon.com/Trotula-Medieval-Compendium-Womens-Medicine/dp/0812235894

Hypatia (370-415 AD)

 

Hypatia: "The school of Athens" by Raffaello Sanzio"

Quote: "Defend your right to think, because even thinking in a wrong way is better than not thinking"

Place of birth: Alexandria, Egypt

Quick bio:

Hypatia is considered the most famous scientist in the ancient world.

Her father, Theon (philosopher and mathematician), took care of her education to make her "the perfect human being".

Her house became one of the most famous cultural centers at that time and her thoughts were based on the freedom of thinking.

Her life was short because she was brutally killed by the order of Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, who considered her a heretical.

-Historical digression: at that time the Roman empire was shifting to Christianity, and as result, there was a huge wave of violence against pagans-.

After her death, most of her knowledge and discoveries were lost and stolen by the ecclesiastical institutions.

One of her inventions was the ASTROLABE, used for reckoning time and for calculating the position of the Sun, stars, and planets

           

Learn more:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hypatia&i=stripbooks-intl-ship&crid=3T6FG68ZM0DR&sprefix=hypatia%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C207&ref=nb_sb_ss_pltr-ranker-opsacceptance_1_7

Le tue antenate (Your ancestors)

 

Each of us needs role models and we can find them in different contexts: family, friends, school, and books (Yes, books!🙌)

We can learn a lot from biographies. Behind every life, there is a message that we can capture, a seed from which we can build our architecture of thoughts.

Biographies are inspiring and without our past, we won't be able to build our future. We are "standing on the shoulders of our giants" (here is the Wiki link to know more about this quote Standing on the shoulders of giants - Wikipedia)

Ok, is all fantastic...but there's a big GAP here. 

Throughout history, we learned about conquerors, emperors, kings, and inventors with a thing in common: all of them were males. 

WHERE WERE ALL THE WOMEN?

I would like to start a section about history, society, and science with a link: biographies of our female ancestors. 

My guide will be a small book: "Le tue antenate" ( RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI - LE TUE: Levi-Montalcini, Rita, Tripodi, Giuseppina: 9788893483049: Amazon.com: Books ).

Most of you maybe don't know that Rita Levi Montalcini, a scientist, a role model, and a Nobel Prize (Rita Levi-Montalcini - Facts (nobelprize.org) ), wrote about other role models, most often forgotten.

Unfortunately, this book is in Italian, but don't be sad...here I will try to extrapolate some biographies and, together, we will discover another side of our past.

So, enjoy this journey!👍

S.

Just an intro

 

Hello everyone!

Now you are in the forest, lost in the middle of nowhere.

All around you are quiet, shiny sun, gentle wind, and you feel good. 

This is the perfect place, the perfect moment: you feel you are a tiny part of the universe, and all your particles are connected with it.

Suddenly, a background noise comes...faint in the beginning, louder when your conscious mind pays attention to it. 

S**t, the alarm clock😖 , time to wake up!

How many times do we dream peacefully and how many times do we wake up with the feeling that this coming back to reality is a total mess: wait, don't be desperate 😉!

Reset your brain and, like the philosopher Socrates, repeat to yourself: "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing".

What do I mean?

Welcome to this page. Maybe you don't need it, "the Internet is already full of info".

That's true.

I don't pretend to teach you something, but if accidentally you jump in here, know that we are learning together.   

S.