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The gender games of geniuses

Looking at the history of science and mathematics, it does not take long to appreciate how male-dominated it has been. We come across very few women who made significant contributions to these subjects. Amongst the few names cited, one may mention Hypatia from Greece, daughter of mathematician Alexandricus, who dates back to 350-370 AD to 415 AD and the more nebulous Lilavati from India of the 12th century.

Hypatia’s father was keen to provide his daughter all-round education. She grew into a scholar and teacher. Her books on geometry became famous and were much in demand. She was the head of the Platonist school in Alexandria and imparted teachings on the works of Plato and Aristotle. Tragically, she was caught in local politics that led to her death at the hands of an angry mob.

Lilavati is the name of a classic text on mathematics written by the Indian scholar Bhaskaracharya (1114-1185 AD), supposedly based on the problems set by him for his daughter of that name. As with many Indian episodes, shortage of written records makes it hard to speculate on the veracity of the stories about Lilavati. But the existence of the lady and the book written about her cannot be denied.

Beyond these names, our list of women scholars starts running dry until we come to the 19th century. While we start getting a few names here, we also begin to realise why they are so few — the social conditions were still heavily biased against women attempting to get into higher education and research. In 2009, Cambridge University celebrated its 800th birthday. With a history dating back to the early 13th century, what has been its record vis-à-vis women’s education? Both Cambridge and its “elder sister” Oxford did not accord degrees to women until 1948. Women were admitted to the university and were taught the same way as their male counterparts. But those who passed got a simple certificate to that effect while the male students got degrees.

An even more ludicrous situation arose with relation to the Mathematical Tripos, the highest examination in mathematics at Cambridge. The candidates getting a first class were called “wranglers” and they were ranked from the top one all the way down. The top candidate had the prestigious title of “Senior wrangler” and he enjoyed awards in plenty. But where were the women candidates in this set up? They were ranked separately so as not to interfere with the male list of wranglers. However, in 1890, a woman candidate named Philippa Fawcett scored the highest marks, even more than the senior wrangler. But as per existing rules, she could not be given the title of Senior wrangler. That went to the male student who scored the highest marks amongst men but was below Philippa.

The situation across the channel was no better. Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850-91) had a first glimpse of higher mathematics when she was 11. As she recalled in her autobiography, when her family moved from town to countryside, their new house needed wallpaper. All the ordered paper from Moscow ran out before the children’s nursery could be decorated. In the absence of wallpaper, the parents decided to use the pages of a text on mathematics then lying in the attic. Seeing the mathematical formulae on the walls made Sofia wonder what it was all about. Although the answer was not going to be comprehensible at that stage, it did help sustain her interest in higher mathematics.

But the prevailing conditions in Russia forbade women from a university career and to go to Germany, where the avenue existed, she had to get into a phony marriage and use her husband’s letter of consent! Even in Germany she encountered gender discrimination and had to take lessons from the famous mathematician Karl Weierstrass in private because she was forbidden from attending his classes. Later, when she matured into a good mathematician, she set an example for many other female mathematicians to follow. Today the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) sponsors a prestigious lecture in her name.
Emmy Noether from Germany revolutionised algebra building it up into a modern discipline. The Dutch algebraist Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, joined her discussion class and played a vital role in getting the new algebra known through his textbook. Noether’s theorem has played a vital role in guiding theoretical physicists to fundamental issues when formulating new theories.

But despite these extraordinary achievements, which drew accolades from the likes of Einstein and Hilbert, Amy Noether could not get a position in a good German university. When Hilbert encountered opposition from fellow faculty members for admitting a woman professor, he burst out with the comment: “Gentlemen, I do not see why the sex of the candidate is an argument against her… after all we are a university, not a bath house.” Things haven’t changed much for women scientists in our modern times. When Margaret Burbidge, an experienced observational astronomer, applied for time to use the large telescope on the Palomar mountain, her application was turned down. The reason advanced was that the observatory did not have a ladies’ washroom.

And finally, a story from our own doorstep. When biologist Kamala Sohonie applied to the Indian Institute of Science for postgraduate studies, the director, who happened to be Dr C.V. Raman, refused the request on the grounds that he felt that women were incapable of studying science. But Kamala contested this opinion and finally got him to admit her on a one-year probation. After completing her MSc there she got a successful PhD from Cambridge.

The writer, a renowned astrophysicist, was Cambridge University’s senior wrangler in 1959

( Source : dc )
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